Caleb Durbin is out of the Boston Red Sox lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Athletics, ending a stretch of 45 consecutive starts.
The rest arrives at a strange moment, with Boston looking to avoid losing two games in a row for the first time since June 30 and July 1, and with Durbin riding the best offensive stretch of his career.
Nick Sogard is listed to start at third base in Durbin’s place for the day game with Anthony Seigler starting at second and Willson Contreras returning to first base despite a lingering illness.
| BOSTON RED SOX STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Erik Miller (LHP, #67) • 2-0, 2.57 ERA, 49 K | ||||||||
| August 9, 2026 • Fenway Park, Boston, MA • 1:35 PM EDT • Athletics at Red Sox | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Nick Sogard | 3B | S | 0 | 3 | 0 | .271 | .757 |
| 2 | Ceddanne Rafaela | CF | R | 15 | 60 | 16 | .288 | .796 |
| 3 | Wilyer Abreu | DH | L | 20 | 62 | 7 | .256 | .793 |
| 4 | Willson Contreras | 1B | R | 23 | 70 | 3 | .287 | .929 |
| 5 | Andruw Monasterio | SS | R | 6 | 31 | 3 | .273 | .792 |
| 6 | Anthony Seigler | 2B | S | 3 | 12 | 2 | .246 | .710 |
| 7 | Jarren Duran | LF | L | 16 | 60 | 17 | .202 | .617 |
| 8 | Eli White | RF | R | 5 | 17 | 4 | .221 | .662 |
| 9 | Jake Rogers | C | R | 3 | 11 | 1 | .178 | .616 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
Red Sox Manager Chad Tracy Explains Durbin’s Day Off
Interim manager Chad Tracy addressed the decision Sunday, describing a stretch of games that has worn down several regulars on Boston’s roster.
“Just a day,” Tracy said. “That’s part of the guys that we’ve been kind of running into the ground. You’re going through this stretch and you feel like hot day game like one of those guys I need to get off their feet. And at some point during the road trip I have to tend to Rafa (Ceddanne Rafaela) and Mona (Andruw Monasterio), too. But Durbin’s been grinding hard and felt like today was the day to do it,” Tracy said, as quoted by Christopher Smith of MassLive.
| ATHLETICS STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: J.T. Ginn (RHP, #35) • 8-6, 3.51 ERA, 105 K | ||||||||
| August 9, 2026 • Fenway Park, Boston, MA • 1:35 PM EDT • Athletics at Red Sox | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Henry Bolte | CF | R | 5 | 22 | 13 | .253 | .682 |
| 2 | Jacob Wilson | SS | R | 7 | 36 | 4 | .270 | .696 |
| 3 | Jonah Heim | C | S | 11 | 38 | 0 | .226 | .698 |
| 4 | Tyler Soderstrom | DH | L | 19 | 54 | 1 | .245 | .812 |
| 5 | Tommy White | 1B | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | .266 | .575 |
| 6 | Lawrence Butler | RF | L | 7 | 30 | 9 | .205 | .624 |
| 7 | Jonathan Ornelas | LF | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .432 |
| 8 | Max Muncy | 3B | R | 5 | 20 | 3 | .219 | .662 |
| 9 | Jeff McNeil | 2B | L | 4 | 35 | 4 | .250 | .637 |
| Lineups subject to change. | ||||||||
Caleb Durbin’s Hot Streak Has Powered the Red Sox
Durbin slashed .329/.408/.534 with eight home runs, nine stolen bases, 34 runs and 28 RBI across those 45 straight starts, a stretch that turned a slow start into one of the best storylines on Boston’s roster this summer.
His full-season numbers stand at .251/.321/.407 with 11 home runs, 54 RBI and 14 stolen bases, marking a sharp turnaround from an opening stretch in which his average sat in the .160s.
The surge has coincided with one of the hottest runs in franchise history. Boston tied its own record with a 15-game winning streak earlier this summer, then reeled off nine more in a row before Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Athletics snapped it, as reported by Kaley Brown of Boston.com.
The Red Sox sit at 64-52, holding the American League’s second wild-card spot and trailing the New York Yankees by a game and a half in that race.
Durbin arrived in Boston in a February trade that sent him, along with Andruw Monasterio and Seigler, to the Red Sox from Milwaukee in exchange for pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan and infielder David Hamilton. The undersized third baseman, listed at 5-foot-6, starred at Division III Washington University in St. Louis before the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the 14th round of the 2021 draft.
Durbin made his major league debut with the Brewers on April 18, 2025, and quickly won a starting job, finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting and helping Milwaukee reach the NL Championship Series that fall. He credits a background in competitive wrestling, a sport his father and older brother both played at Northwestern University, for the quickness that has defined his defense at third base.
None of that history will be on display Sunday. Durbin instead is set to watch from the bench as the Red Sox try to salvage the finale of a series they entered as one of baseball’s hottest teams, having lost just six times in their last 38 games.
Red Sox Announce Significant Caleb Durbin Decision Before Athletics Series Finale