Caleb

Durbin

The Red Sox still probably shouldn’t have given up Kyle Harrison for him, but Durbin has essentially the same WAR (2.1 entering the day) and OPS (.684) as Alex Bregman (2.2 and .681, respectively). Durbin has nine homers, six of which have come in his last 20 games. He’s also swiped five bags during those 20 games. It’s not assured that he’ll last as mixed-league option during the second half, but he’s certainly worth playing right now.

Durbin followed William Contreras’s three-run blast with a solo shot of his own off Nationals starter Miles Mikolas in the opening frame. It was his sixth long ball in just 24 games since the start of June after going deep just once in 59 games prior to June 10. The 26-year-old got off to a frigid start at the dish in his Red Sox debut, but he’s shown some extremely promising signs the last couple weeks, enough that he’s worthy of a roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.

Durbin plated the game’s only two runs through eight innings with his single to center off Carlos Rodón in the fourth and then stole both second and third afterwards. He finishes the rather low-scoring four-game sweep of the Yankees having gone 6-for-15 with a homer and three RBI, and he’s up to nine steals in 12 attempts on the season.

Durbin, who was back in the lineup today after leaving Thursday’s game with a finger subluxation, hit the sixth homer Cam Schlittler’s given up this year, barely sneaking one over the Green Monster at 344 feet down the left field line. Durbin is 16-for-45 with five homers in his last 13 games, taking his OPS from .544 to .660. He should be rostered in most formats while back playing regularly at third.

Durbin was removed from Wednesday’s game after suffering a subluxation on his left pinky. The 26-year-old is good to go for the series opener against New York and will hit in the middle of the lineup against Cam Schlittler and the Yankees’ bullpen.

Simply put, Durbin partially dislocated his pinky finger on his left hand. The encouraging development here is that he didn’t suffer a wrist injury on a head-first slide into first base during Wednesday’s contest. A trip to the injured list could be in the cards, especially if he’s unable to grip a bat in the coming days. He’ll likely undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue. The timing is unfortunate since he was just beginning to show some signs of life at the plate following a brutal start to his Red Sox debut.

Durbin jammed the wrist into the first base bag on a headfirst dive on a groundout in the second. It didn’t look serious at the time, but he didn’t come back out to play defense afterwards. Marcelo Mayer, who had been sitting against a lefty, replaced him in the game.

After a brutal start to his Red Sox career, Durbin is starting to heat up with the summer weather. In his last 20 games, he’s gone 23-for-72 (.278) with four home runs, 13 RBI, and four steals. He’s playing himself back onto the radar in shallower formats.

Durbin’s 367-foot homer gave the Red Sox their lone run off Bryce Miller through five. Durbin also homered Wednesday, and he’s hit .292 with four homers in his last 18 games, raising his OPS from .479 to .609. He’s not a bad CI option in 12-team leagues now that he’s shaken off his playing time concerns.

Where did that come from? Both homers were no doubters to left, with the first checking in at 415 feet. That’s 29 feet farther than his previous long fly this year. The 107.7 mph it left the bat at was also a season high. It’s Durbin’s first two-homer game as a major leaguer. He’s hit .341 with eight extra-base hits in his last 12 games, so playing time is no longer a question for him at the moment. He still might offer some fantasy value in deeper leagues.