For the Boston Red Sox and the team’s fans, the Caleb Durbin experience has been a wild one. Durbin, of course, got off to a horrendous start for Boston, going 0-for-18 in his first five games, and was batting below .200–he was at .192–as late as June 18. That’s when he turned things around, and in 44 games through late June, July and early August, Durbin hit .331 with a .949 OPS, serving as one f the main drivers of the Red Sox resurgence. They were 35-9 in games he played in that span.
On August 7, Durbin knocked a double in a 13-1 thumping over the A’s. Since then, he has had 20 hits, and not one of them has been for extra bases. His power numbers dropped for a while, but lately, Durbin has not even been hitting singles. In his last 16 games, he is just 9-for-52, with an average of .173 and an OPS of just .468.
Perhaps there is another breakout coming for Durbin. The Red Sox could use it sooner rather than later.
Caleb Durbin Having ‘Prolonged Struggles’
The Red Sox have been fortunate to start getting back other bats in the lineup as Durbin has gone silent, and with Willson Contreras injured. Roman Anthony has returned from his long layoff with a hand injury and has been hot, as has Trevor Story, coming back from a hernia injury.
But there are concerns about Durbin, whose aggressive style makes him a bellwether of this team.
As MassLive Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo said on “The Fenway Rundown” podcast: “Durbin has had prolonged struggles here. I don’t know if something has changed, but Caleb Durbin I don’t think has had an extra-base hit in weeks and weeks and weeks–his last extra-base hit was on August 7. And since then, Durbin has consistently struggled at the plate, hitting with a .632 OPS. We’ve seen the numbers come down.”
Red Sox Hoping to Get Hot at the Right Time
If there is some bright side to the struggles of Caleb Durbin, it’s that the Red Sox have dealt with ups and downs from hitters through the entire season, and have not really been in a situation in which their lineup had all factions humming at once. Maybe that is ahead, as the stretch run and the October playoffs loom.
Said Cotillo: “I feel like the Red Sox, of course due to injury largely, they have not had a period of time where al of their hitters have been hot at the same time. Really, that stretch where they went on that ultimate heater, Contreras was not as good offensively as he had been earlier in the year, Durbin had hit a new level. … (Wilyer) Abreu has had ups and downs, (Ceddanne) Rafaela has been obviously more consistent than in previous years. (Jaren) Duran, we have talked about a lot.
“I feel like, you get five of those guys, there’s a lot of upside there for five of those guys to get hot. Of course, it is going to come down to matchups when you get to October.”
Red Sox Concerns Raised as Star Slides Into Slump Amid ‘Prolonged Struggles’