Apr 4, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin (5) makes a catch and throw to first base for an out against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Eric Canha-Imagn Images
There’s no perfect answer for how long a team should give a newcomer to settle in, but the answer is definitely greater than 20 games.
Caleb Durbin, the Boston Red Sox’s February trade acquisition and new starting third baseman, had about as rough a start to his Red Sox career as one could have imagined. It took him until his seventh game in a Sox uniform to put up his first hit, and he hasn’t exactly been on fire ever since.
But as bad as Durbin has been, it’s still ridiculous to suggest this early on that he needs to be replaced via trade. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter did on Tuesday.
Major overreaction to say Durbin’s job is in jeopardy
Reuter’s take was that Durbin, who put up nearly three bWAR in his rookie season with the Milwaukee Brewers last year, had already proven he couldn’t handle the Red Sox gig, which prompted him to call third base a “clear need” for Boston ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.
“An offseason deal to acquire Caleb Durbin from the Brewers seemed to give the Red Sox their third baseman of the present and future following Alex Bregman’s departure in free agency,” Reuter wrote.
“However, the 26-year-old is off to an ugly start at the plate, hitting .141/.236/.203 over 72 plate appearances. Those numbers are backed by some of the worst batted-ball metrics of any qualified hitter, providing little optimism for a quick turnaround.”
Here’s all we need to illustrate why Reuter’s point was so ridiculous: His piece was published on Tuesday, but the stats he included were only updated through Sunday’s games. On Monday, Durbin went a casual 2-for-4 with a double against the Detroit Tigers, raising his slash line to .162/.260/.235.
Those numbers are still brutal, of course, but when one decent game can raise your OPS by 50 points, you’re still living in a time of year that doesn’t warrant trade speculation.
Durbin hit two balls over 100 mph on Monday as well, so let’s give him a chance to get his batted ball metrics up to speed (he’s now in the 18th percentile of hard-hit rate) before we come gunning for the job he just started.
