Will Caleb Durbin be our starting 2B? This is the FanGraphs projected lineup. Thoughts?
February 10, 2026
Will Caleb Durbin be our starting 2B? This is the FanGraphs projected lineup. Thoughts?
20 comments
Looks to be the plan. He played 3B last year but has been better at 2B in the past. Still can’t believe they pulled off that deal. I wanted Paredes, but am thrilled with this development instead.
Yes for sure.
I sort of feel like Abreu will bat 3rd; Roman, Story, Abreu, Contreras… But we’ll see.
Story batting second 🤢🤢
Ngl I like this roster. Yeah there’s a power bat missing but our rotation is stacked and there’s a bunch of young guys up and down the lineup ready to shine.
Story needs to play 2B
Personally I want Durbin at third, only because I want Mayer at short and Story at second… But realistically they are purring Story at short, so in that case Durbin at 2B and Mayer at third is what I want.
Until any rumors come out though, it could also be the other way around which wouldn’t be bad, but I’d prefer the other set up.
I think so. He’s 5’7 and doesn’t have a crazy good arm. 2nd base is probably a better spot for him.
I think they’ll rotate a bit. Romy will play 2B against lefties putting Durbin at 3B. They’ll want to see how Mayer does long term at 3B and whether a shift to 2B is in the cards for Story. We’ll have a clearer picture after a couple of months. This team is built on flexibility among other things and they’ll want to exploit that.
Off topic, but what’s the projection with Kutter and Tanner? They’re not listed in the line up?
More interested in the defensive alignment than the lineup. Algorithm gonna optimize the lineup so what’s the point?
Brewers fans say Durbin has GG potential at 3b. Contreras at 1b.
Story at SS, with IKF providing backup.
2B has so many possibilities but I think the team wants a Mayer – Campbell platoon, with Romy as the backup plan and utility guy.
Duran needs to be lead off.
Not likely, he will be at third with Mayer at second
I’m guessing no. Probably a platoon player to play infield. He doesn’t seem to be good enough to be an every day player on a 1st place team, but he’s an ok guy. We’ll be a 2nd/3rd place team (sucks being a small market team) and we have no one else to play 2nd so it’s a possibility he’s our guy.
Here’s what Baseball America has to say about him:
>Durbin is coming off an excellent rookie season in which he showed his on-base skills translate to the major leagues. He can also provide enough defensive value to be a productive regular. Durbin had a 2.8 bWAR and a 2.6 fWAR season as he finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He hit .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs and 18 steals in 506 plate appearances.
>He can play second or third base capably, and he can even fill in at shortstop in an emergency. Durbin is 5-foot-7 and his value offensively is largely tied to his small strike zone, his excellent plate discipline and above-average bat control. He is extremely difficult to strike out and if a pitcher makes a mistake, he can pull it for extra bases. Fenway Park’s Green Monster should be a nice match for Durbin, as his extra-base juice is almost entirely to the pull side.
>How he fits for the Red Sox will be an interesting discussion. With Marcelo Mayer also ready to contribute and Trevor Story set at shortstop, Durbin could slide to second base, or the Red Sox could move Mayer primarily to second base and let Durbin serve as the Alex Bregman replacement at third.
He played more 2B in the minors and probably didn’t play there cause of Turang so I’d think so
Is that normal to have that many Righties v Lefties in the ‘pen?
This lineup is weird because it doesn’t account for the fact that Cora will most likely have different looking lineups against LHP and RHP. He’s probably also gonna play different lineups day-to-day because he has like 11 starting caliber players for 9 spots. I’d expect a baseline similar to:
Lineup | vs. RHP | vs. LHP
—|—|—-
1 | Duran CF | Anthony DH
2 | Anthony LF | Romy 3B
3 | Abreu RF | Contreras 1B
4 | Contreras 1B | Story SS
5 | Yoshida DH | Abreu RF
6 | Story SS | Narvaez C
7 | Narvaez C | Duran LF
8 | Mayer 3B | Durbin 2B
9 | Rafaela/Durbin 2B | Rafaela CF
With a lot of guys regularly getting regular rest starts where they’re used as pinch hitters later in the game. The lineup against righties is pretty great – people may worry about three LHH at the top of the order, but Anthony has shown that he should hopefully be a guy who has great splits against both LHP and RHP. Against good lefties the lineup drops off a bit after the top-4.
Mayer will likely hit ahead of Abreu in the lineup. Wilyer is so streaky.
Everything is dependent on what kind of camp Marcelo has. I don’t think he will simply be handed 3B unless he shows something in spring training. He still has a lot to prove.
Ya I like Mayer more at 3B.
Durbin will play 2nd against right handed starters and 3rd against left handed starters.
20 comments
Looks to be the plan. He played 3B last year but has been better at 2B in the past. Still can’t believe they pulled off that deal. I wanted Paredes, but am thrilled with this development instead.
Yes for sure.
I sort of feel like Abreu will bat 3rd; Roman, Story, Abreu, Contreras… But we’ll see.
Story batting second 🤢🤢
Ngl I like this roster. Yeah there’s a power bat missing but our rotation is stacked and there’s a bunch of young guys up and down the lineup ready to shine.
Story needs to play 2B
Personally I want Durbin at third, only because I want Mayer at short and Story at second… But realistically they are purring Story at short, so in that case Durbin at 2B and Mayer at third is what I want.
Until any rumors come out though, it could also be the other way around which wouldn’t be bad, but I’d prefer the other set up.
I think so. He’s 5’7 and doesn’t have a crazy good arm. 2nd base is probably a better spot for him.
I think they’ll rotate a bit. Romy will play 2B against lefties putting Durbin at 3B. They’ll want to see how Mayer does long term at 3B and whether a shift to 2B is in the cards for Story. We’ll have a clearer picture after a couple of months. This team is built on flexibility among other things and they’ll want to exploit that.
Off topic, but what’s the projection with Kutter and Tanner? They’re not listed in the line up?
More interested in the defensive alignment than the lineup. Algorithm gonna optimize the lineup so what’s the point?
Brewers fans say Durbin has GG potential at 3b. Contreras at 1b.
Story at SS, with IKF providing backup.
2B has so many possibilities but I think the team wants a Mayer – Campbell platoon, with Romy as the backup plan and utility guy.
Duran needs to be lead off.
Not likely, he will be at third with Mayer at second
I’m guessing no. Probably a platoon player to play infield. He doesn’t seem to be good enough to be an every day player on a 1st place team, but he’s an ok guy. We’ll be a 2nd/3rd place team (sucks being a small market team) and we have no one else to play 2nd so it’s a possibility he’s our guy.
Here’s what Baseball America has to say about him:
>Durbin is coming off an excellent rookie season in which he showed his on-base skills translate to the major leagues. He can also provide enough defensive value to be a productive regular. Durbin had a 2.8 bWAR and a 2.6 fWAR season as he finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He hit .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs and 18 steals in 506 plate appearances.
>He can play second or third base capably, and he can even fill in at shortstop in an emergency. Durbin is 5-foot-7 and his value offensively is largely tied to his small strike zone, his excellent plate discipline and above-average bat control. He is extremely difficult to strike out and if a pitcher makes a mistake, he can pull it for extra bases. Fenway Park’s Green Monster should be a nice match for Durbin, as his extra-base juice is almost entirely to the pull side.
>How he fits for the Red Sox will be an interesting discussion. With Marcelo Mayer also ready to contribute and Trevor Story set at shortstop, Durbin could slide to second base, or the Red Sox could move Mayer primarily to second base and let Durbin serve as the Alex Bregman replacement at third.
He played more 2B in the minors and probably didn’t play there cause of Turang so I’d think so
Is that normal to have that many Righties v Lefties in the ‘pen?
This lineup is weird because it doesn’t account for the fact that Cora will most likely have different looking lineups against LHP and RHP. He’s probably also gonna play different lineups day-to-day because he has like 11 starting caliber players for 9 spots. I’d expect a baseline similar to:
Lineup | vs. RHP | vs. LHP
—|—|—-
1 | Duran CF | Anthony DH
2 | Anthony LF | Romy 3B
3 | Abreu RF | Contreras 1B
4 | Contreras 1B | Story SS
5 | Yoshida DH | Abreu RF
6 | Story SS | Narvaez C
7 | Narvaez C | Duran LF
8 | Mayer 3B | Durbin 2B
9 | Rafaela/Durbin 2B | Rafaela CF
With a lot of guys regularly getting regular rest starts where they’re used as pinch hitters later in the game. The lineup against righties is pretty great – people may worry about three LHH at the top of the order, but Anthony has shown that he should hopefully be a guy who has great splits against both LHP and RHP. Against good lefties the lineup drops off a bit after the top-4.
Mayer will likely hit ahead of Abreu in the lineup. Wilyer is so streaky.
Everything is dependent on what kind of camp Marcelo has. I don’t think he will simply be handed 3B unless he shows something in spring training. He still has a lot to prove.
Ya I like Mayer more at 3B.
Durbin will play 2nd against right handed starters and 3rd against left handed starters.