The Boston Red Sox made a lot of fun roster moves this offseason, especially when it came to the trade market. Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, and Johan Oviedo were all fun trade additions.
But, following the loss of Alex Bregman on a blockbuster deal with the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox pivoted to 5-foot-6 infielder Caleb Durbin as their Bregman fill-in.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named Durbin as the Red Sox’s “X-factor” for the 2026 season, and it’s hard not to see why. He’s taking over for an All-Star who’s a core member of Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. This won’t be easy for Durbin.
Red Sox face big question on 5-foot-6 Durbin
“But if Durbin struggles at the hot corner after Boston lost Alex Bregman and whiffed on (or didn’t even swing at) many of the options in free agency, fingers crossed on Nate Eaton or Isiah Kiner-Falefa? Third base may well be their Achilles’ heel,” Miller writes.
The Red Sox handing the keys at the hot corner over to Durbin is a big decision. He’s only been in the Majors for a short period of time, and while it was a good debut year in 2025, there’s a lot of uncertainty with Durbin.
He had a 2.8 bWAR season across 136 games for the Brewers. The 26-year-old infielder had 114 hits, 25 doubles, 60 runs scored, 11 home runs, 53 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, 30 walks, only 50 strikeouts, a .256 average, and a .721 OPS and 101 OPS+.
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Durbin also inexplicably led the Major Leagues in hit-by-pitches with 24. After an overall solid rookie year, he came up just short of the NL Rookie of the Year award, placing third behind Cade Horton and Drake Baldwin.
Those are some solid statistics for Durbin in his rookie season. But, compared to Bregman, who had 3.5 bWAR, a .273 batting average, and an .821 OPS last year, Durbin has room to grow as a hitter before he can make up for the sting of losing Bregman.
If Durbin can’t improve upon, or at least repeat his rookie year, then there will be some uncomfortable questions the Red Sox have to answer with their third base plan in 2026.
