The Boston Red Sox acquired Caleb Durbin in the offseason, but he has not gotten off to a strong start this season.
Durbin had a great rookie year and ended on a very high note. He was the everyday third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the most games in baseball last season. He had a .771 OPS in his final 79 games of the regular season and had a .777 OPS in the postseason. However, he has started 0-for-14 at the plate this season.
Durbin slashed .354/.446/.500 in spring training, but his bat has gone cold. Durbin commented on his woes on Monday.
“Definitely not lost up there by any means,” Durbin said, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “It’s just have to make the adjustment and figure it out.”
Durbin has hit plenty of ground balls so far this season, so he knows he needs to work on getting his launch angle back to where it was last season.
“Right now, I think it’s just trying to get the ball in the air a little bit more,” Durbin said. “It’s just trying to fine-tune, make those adjustments to give yourself the most chances. That’s for me, what it kind of comes down to right now — is just trying to give myself those chances to find some green.”
Even though he did not get the results he would like, Durbin put together some better at-bats on Monday. He noted he was seeing the ball well and commanding the zone. Durbin may be hitless, but he is in the 95th percentile for squared-up percentage, 96th percentile for whiff percentage and 98th percentile for strikeout percentage.
More MLB: Johan Oviedo Sends Reassuring Message After Rough Red Sox Debut