BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox hosted the San Diego Padres within the annual Fenway Park opener Friday afternoon, and it seems solely 4 individuals had been booed to a level value speaking about.
One was Padres third baseman Manny Machado, who’ll ceaselessly be scorned by Red Sox followers for the dastardly takeout slide that successfully ended the profession of Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Also booed was the double-play mixture of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, this in step with a wealthy Fenway Park custom of razzing politicians.
And then there’s Caleb Durbin.
Oh, the gang handled Boston’s new third baseman OK through the pregame introductions, decorum being what it is. But then he got here to bat within the second inning and managed to check-swing his method right into a 2-4-3, inning-ending double play, and that’s when 36,233 baseball accountants calculated Durbin’s batting common since becoming a member of the Red Sox as .000, as in 0-for-19. Armed with this info, they booed.
And then they cheered after Durbin got here to bat within the fourth inning and lined a Michael King pitch to heart, plating Jarren Duran. On protection, Durbin wolfed up just a little bouncer up the road by Fernando Tatis Jr. and rifled a throw to first baseman Willson Contreras to finish the eighth inning.
So, sure, Durbin performed a major function in Boston’s 5-2 victory over the Padres, which snapped a five-game dropping streak. But the story right here wasn’t a lot Durbin getting the hit and settling down the plenty, although it’s value noting that he very fortunately informed the media after the sport, “That’s Boston, right? You want fans that are poured into it. … It’s honestly a good thing, because you want the fans to be on you. That’s what makes Boston special.”
Nice shoutout to the fan base by the brand new man. But the story was the way wherein Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora used the event to launch a strong protection of Durbin.
“I’m glad he got the hit,” Cora mentioned. “I think everyone was able to breathe, including me, but the kid, he played great at third base, put a good swing there after the weird double play in the first (at-bat). So he’s gonna be OK. He’s a good ballplayer. I think people here are going to love him.”
We’ll get to extra of Cora in a second. But first, it’s vital to evaluation what’s been occurring at third base for the Red Sox since early 2025. Working backward, Durbin is the 5-foot-6, 183-pound third baseman with one 12 months of big-league expertise who was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers to exchange Alex Bregman, who one 12 months in the past was introduced in to play the place in order that Rafael Devers could possibly be unceremoniously shifted to first base. And you don’t want to have the front-office abilities of Branch Rickey to know you’re trending within the incorrect route when your plan for the recent nook churns from Devers to Bregman to Durbin.
For those that have an issue with all this, attain out to Craig Breslow, the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer. Or name any speak present.
But Durbin isn’t answerable for any of this. On Feb. 12, 2025, the day Bregman agreed to a cope with the Red Sox, Durbin was in camp with the Milwaukee Brewers, hoping to crack their Opening Day roster.
On June 15, 2025, the day Breslow traded Devers to the San Francisco Giants, Durbin went 2-for-3 within the Brewers’ 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
It’s not on Durbin that the Red Sox did a poor job convincing Devers of the worth of a transfer to first base as they pursued Bregman. Nor is it Durbin’s fault that Devers was traded, or that Bregman opted to signal with the Cubs after one season in Boston.
But the 0-for-19 to begin the season? That was completely on Durbin. It’s simply that every part kind of obtained thrown into one pot.
And so Cora, utilizing that one hit by Durbin and the nifty defensive play within the eighth inning, went on a public relations mission for his new third baseman.
He did so by citing a narrative about Jason Varitek, the previous Sox catcher/captain who performed on two World Series-winning groups and is now a member of Cora’s teaching workers.
Seems there was a recreation, early on, when Varitek was having a tricky time catching Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball, and, as Cora tells it, “He was horrible. You know, like, all you could see was his number, going back to get the ball and all that.
“He goes up to bat, and they booed him,” Cora mentioned. “I mean, like loud, very loud.”
You in all probability know the place this story is going. Varitek “hit a homer, or something,” Cora mentioned, “and next at-bat it’s a standing ovation. That’s how it works, you know? We’ve got a lot of experienced people here who have been there, done that.”
Cora didn’t want to be requested concerning the Devers-Bregman state of affairs at third base. He talked about it with out even being requested.
“I think, honestly, as far as expectations, yeah, we know what happened at third base,” Cora mentioned. “And now he’s the third baseman, and he’s little, like the ex-second baseman here.”
(That could be Pedroia, by the best way.)
“And the whole thing of Pedroia, Bregman, this or that … no, no, he’s Caleb Durbin,” Cora mentioned. “He’s a good player, he’s a good baseball player.”
Durbin isn’t possible to hit the best way Devers did. Few gamers are able to that. And at 26 years outdated and in solely his second big-league season, he can’t probably replicate the clubhouse management Bregman delivered final 12 months.
Durbin will slot in properly if he performs nicely and performs arduous, and then Sox followers can redirect their angst about roster make-up at possession and the entrance workplace.
But if there are extra and extra 0-for-19s, Durbin will hear it. As he put it so nicely, “That’s Boston, right?”
