{"id":123825,"date":"2026-06-15T18:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T22:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=123825"},"modified":"2026-06-15T18:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T22:07:47","slug":"what-the-red-sox-should-do-with-struggling-third-baseman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/15\/what-the-red-sox-should-do-with-struggling-third-baseman\/","title":{"rendered":"What Should the Red Sox Do with Struggling Third Baseman?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eyes of many fans, the struggling Red Sox had a disappointing offseason this past winter. For a team that made the Wild Card Series and looked like they were taking a step in the right direction, they didn\u2019t get big names like people expected them to. Aside from a couple of big trades with St. Louis for <\/span>Willson Contreras<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Sonny Gray<\/span><\/a>, they went for quieter (but solid, at least in their eyes) names, rather than resigning Alex Bregman or getting someone like<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Pete Alonso<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Should the Red Sox Do with Struggling Third Baseman?<\/h2>\n

\"Meet<\/p>\n

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Third baseman <\/span>Caleb Durbin<\/span><\/a> was one of those names. After <\/span>trading<\/span><\/a> Rafael Devers<\/span><\/a> midseason last year and letting Bregman walk in the offseason, they were in desperate need of a new guy at the hot corner. In February, they struck a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers to acquire Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Siegler in exchange <\/span>for a return package that included <\/span>Kyle Harrison<\/span><\/a> (who they received in the Devers trade).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Durbin\u2019s Struggles At The Plate\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Overall, this season, Durbin\u2019s bat has easily been the worst part of this trade. For a guy that had a decent rookie season, with a slash line of .256\/.334\/.387, there weren’t really star expectations for his sophomore season. But there was some expectation that he’d be a reliable bat that could gel with the rest of the lineup. But as of June 15th, he\u2019s batting under the Mendoza line at .194. At one point last month, he was the <\/span>worst-qualified hitter<\/span><\/a> in all of baseball.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Struggles Continue in June\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Despite one great game against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he went three for four and hit two home runs (improving his season total to three homers), he went back into a slump. This past weekend against the Texas Rangers, he went 0-10 with one run, one RBI, and one walk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a strange development after <\/span>Aaron Judge<\/span><\/a>\u2019s personal hitting coach Richard Schenck posted a video of Durbin working with him this past Wednesday and he seemed to be swinging better. The results were there in Tampa, as he went four for nine in the series. Not to make excuses but in the Texas series, he did go up against two former All-Stars in <\/span>Jacob DeGrom<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Nathan Eovaldi<\/span><\/a> this weekend, so it was a tough part of the rotation to go against already, especially for a guy struggling this much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Where I found him.<\/p>\n

Where did I get him?<\/p>\n

Watch the head.<\/p>\n

MLB allowed this head movement.<\/p>\n

Private instructor encouraged that head movement.<\/p>\n

I stopped that head movement. pic.twitter.com\/dgD95oLnvh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Richard Schenck, The Heretic JFD PPP LQC TTE. \ud83d\ude42 (@Teacherman1986) June 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n