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Caleb Durbin Finally Playing Like Player Red Sox Expected originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox acquired Caleb Durbin in the offseason, but he got off to a very slow start to the season.
Durbin was hitting .163 with a .479 OPS through his first 48 games. He was even benched at one point. Last season, he was a National League Rookie of the Year candidate and was the everyday third baseman on the Milwaukee Brewers, who won more games than any team in baseball last season.
Durbin has made some changes to his approach, focusing more on direction and staying inside the ball. Durbin has started five straight games and is finally looking like the player the Red Sox expected. He is 7-for-20 in the last five games, and five of his hits have been extra-base hits. He has six RBIs and just three strikeouts in that span.
"Just staying within myself," Durbin said on WEEI on Sunday. "Staying inside the ball a little bit more. Obviously staying up the middle with my direction," Durbin said. "I knew I hadn't been that far. I knew it would just kind of be a little thing like getting my direction back to kind of get better results."
He has an extra-base hit in each of his last five games. It is a small sample size, but if he can continue being a productive hitter, the Red Sox could start closing the gap between them and other postseason contenders. Last season, Durbin slashed .256/.334/.387. From July on, he had a .750 OPS and seven home runs.
That's the version of Durbin the Red Sox expected at the plate. Defensively, he has been stellar. He has a plus-three outs above average and ranks in the 87th percentile.
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