When Caleb Durbin was introduced in the Red Sox starting lineup and jogged out past the red carpet laid out in front of the dugout steps, he was met with a mix of cheers and boos.
It reflected the rocky start to his Red Sox tenure.
Through his first five games, the third baseman, who finished third in the 2025 National League Rookie of the Year voting, was 0-for-18 with a 26.3% strikeout rate. He was one of only a handful of qualified hitters still hitless.
After his first at-bat, the boos only intensified.
Durbin tried to check his swing but made weak contact, the ball dribbling a foot in front of the plate. As Durbin looked down at the ball, Padres catcher Luis Campusano pounced, firing to second to force out Wilyer Abreu. Jake Cronenworth completed the turn to first for a 2-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Understandably, frustration set in.
Of course, part of that frustration is with who Durbin is replacing. Alex Bregman held down third base a season ago — an All-Star who, despite missing 48 games, still ranked fourth on the team in hits (118) and doubles (28), third in home runs (18), and fifth in RBI (62).
So when Durbin stepped in again in the fourth inning, a smattering of boos followed him into the box.
This time, he delivered.
Durbin lined a 92.2 mph single to center, a much-needed breakthrough that lifted the tension inside Fenway Park.
“I’m glad that he got the hit. I think everyone was able to breathe, including me,” Alex Cora said. “But the kid, he played a good third base. Put a good swing there after the weird double play in the first one.”
Alex Cora on Caleb Durbin:
“I’m glad that he got the hit. I think everyone was able to breathe, including me. But the kid, he played a good third base. Put a good swing there … He's gonna be okay. He's a good ball player. I think people here are gonna love him.” https://t.co/HYFvnpKFCT pic.twitter.com/iF3qUE6ZPP
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) April 3, 2026
Fair or not, the comparisons to Bregman are inevitable. But Cora made one thing clear: Durbin is his own player.
“He’s gonna be okay. He’s a good ball player. I think people here are gonna love him,” the manager said. “I think honestly, as far as like expectations – yeah, we know what happened last year at third base, and now he’s a third baseman. And then he’s little, like the ex-second baseman here. So the whole thing of Pedroia, Bregman, this and that – No, no, he’s Caleb Durbin. He’s a good player.”
Durbin heard the boos, but he doesn’t take them personally — he embraces them. He understands that being booed just five games into his tenure, in his first home game, comes with the territory of playing in a city as passionate as Boston.
“That’s Boston, right? You want fans that are poured into it,” He said. “When you’re not going good, when it’s bad, you’re beating yourself up more than anything. You definitely don’t take it personally. It’s honestly a good thing because you want the fans to be on you, and that’s what makes Boston special.”
He also understands the context. He’s struggled early, and third base is a sensitive spot, from Alex Bregman to Rafael Devers. But it’s not where his focus lies.
“I’m here to help the team win. Regardless of who was here before, I’m just trying to play a good third base. Defense is super important to me. That has to be locked down more than anything, and obviously just trying to grind out at-bats.”
And moving forward, his teammates have the utmost confidence in him.
“I’m super happy for him. He works his tail off, and he’s a great player,” Marcelo Mayer said. “He’s going to help us win a lot of games. He hasn’t got off to the start that he wanted, but the whole team believes in him, and he believes in himself. He had a great year last year, so nobody is worried about it. We just want to get him as comfortable as we can to help us win.”
