{"id":581148,"date":"2026-02-19T14:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581148\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T14:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:28:24","slug":"red-sox-alex-cora-says-new-infielders-wrestling-background-helps-make-him-plus-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581148\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox\u2019 Alex Cora says new infielder\u2019s \u2018wrestling background\u2019 helps make him plus defender"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Caleb Durbin<\/a> has mainly played third base during team workouts here at Red Sox<\/a> spring training camp.<\/p>\n

But he is expected to get some work at second base Thursday, manager Alex Cora said.<\/p>\n

Boston acquired Durbin in a six-player trade<\/a> with the Brewers on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n

The Sox have yet to decide whether he will start at third base or second base this season. Durbin is expected to play third base in a Grapefruit League game vs. the Blue Jays on Sunday at JetBlue Park.<\/p>\n

Durbin, who will turn 26 on Feb. 22, had five defensive runs saved in 1,060 \u2154 innings at third base as a rookie last season. He had negative-1 defensive runs saved in a much more limited 43 \u2153-inning sample size at second base.<\/p>\n

He made more starts at second base (150) than at third base (73) in the minors. <\/p>\n

\u201cGreat footwork,\u201d Cora said. \u201cHe did a good job last year with the Brewers. We expect the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durbin was a standout wrestler in high school at Lake Forest High in Lake Forest, Illinois.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort guy, lower to the ground,\u201d Cora said. \u201cI got some people that work for the Brewers. They say that when he goes down on the ground, he comes up very quick. I know it\u2019s his wrestling background. He used to wrestle. So he\u2019s a great athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Sox built their roster around starting pitching this past offseason. They acquired Sonny Gray in a trade<\/a> with the Cardinals, signed Ranger Su\u00e1rez to a five-year, $130 million deal<\/a> and traded for Johan Oviedo<\/a> from the Pirates.<\/p>\n

With such a focus on pitching, defense is equally important. The Red Sox feel they added two plus defenders in Durbin and first baseman Willson Contreras. <\/p>\n

Boston acquired Contreras in a trade with St. Louis on Dec. 21<\/a>. He finished in the 91st percentile in outs above average (6) among MLB first basemen last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively impressive,\u201d Cora said about Contreras. \u201cStays low to the ground. Good hands. Good footwork. … He\u2019s a good athlete. He did a good job last year with the Cardinals and we just have to help him to keep getting better. But he plays low to the ground. Good athlete. Good hand-eye coordination. Good arm, too. And he plays hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other spring training notes:<\/p>\n

~ Masataka Yoshida will leave earlier than everyone else for the World Baseball Classic. So he will play in Boston\u2019s Grapefruit League games Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

~ Romy Gonzalez, who had a PRP injection for shoulder inflammation<\/a>, has still not participated in team drills.<\/p>\n

~ Red Sox prospect Tyler Uberstine will start Friday against Northeastern<\/a>.\u00a0Wyatt Olds, Noah Song and Jeremy Wu-Yelland<\/a> also are scheduled to pitch against the Huskies.<\/p>\n

~ Right fielder Wilyer Abreu<\/a> is expected to play left field for Venezuela in the WBC. Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. will play right field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 Caleb Durbin has mainly played third base during team workouts here at Red Sox…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2290],"tags":[152,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-581148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-american-league","9":"tag-baseball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116097771352719903","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}