Today’s surprising discovery of Caleb Durbin in a six-player trade with the Brewers gave the Red Sox an extra infielder they had longed for but also raised questions about the infield structure. Durbin can play second and third base. Both positions don’t sit well with the Red Sox.
Manager Alex Cora touched on this issue in his first press session of the spring, indicating that for now, the team will not commit to setting up a single defense just yet (link via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Each of Durbin’s, the absolute hope Marcelo Mayer and resource veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa can play second base or third base.
The situation is also muddled because the player who plays in the middle Romy Gonzalez is behind schedule due to a shoulder problem that has bothered him all season (links via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and Tim Healey of the Globe). Gonzalez was injured in Boston’s 160th game of the season. He rested and fixed it all winter believing that the issue was behind him but he mishandled it when he started the hit show last month. He has since received a platelet-rich plasma injection and aims to be ready for Opening Day, but that will depend on how his shoulder progresses (or doesn’t) during the Grapefruit League program.
Whether it’s second base or third base, Durbin finds he’s going to be in the lineup every day. He is a good defender in any position and has a neutral club split in 2025. Neither he nor Mayer will work in the short space, per Cora. Trevor’s story has always gotten a lot of reps there, but it seems like Kiner-Falefa is the main backup right now. If both Story and Kiner-Falefa go down with injuries, maybe the Sox could reconsider using Mayer and/or Durbin there, but that’s not in the cards right now.
Ideally, Gonzalez will be healthy enough to take regular at-bats against left-handed pitching. He’s slugging southpaws at a .331/.378/.600 clip in 2025 and has a lifetime .302/.345/.527 against them. Against lefties, the Sox might go with Gonzalez at second base and Durbin at third base, then switch to a combination of Mayer and Durbin against righties. Mayer hit .260/.333/.462 against righties in 2025 (majors and minors combined) but just .230/.260/.378 against lefties.
Employees Andrew Monasterio again Anthony Seiglerboth found alongside Durbin, can put both in the mix. Monasteryo swings from the right side of the plate and can play all four infield positions. Seigler is a left-handed catcher/outfielder who has played more second base than catcher in recent seasons. It’s a long shot whether they’ll claim a starting role, but both will be part of the bench duties.
There are still questions in the outfield. Much has been made of Boston’s outfield team, including Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and, little by little, Masataka Yoshida. There are more bodies than bats to go around. Cora stated unequivocally today that the Red Sox view Abreu as an everyday player and plan to get him at bats against both lefties and righties (via MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith). They want to keep Rafaela on the field as often as possible, too, because of his midfield defense.
That’s a departure from how Abreu has been used in the past. The 26-year-old signed just 145 of 849 major league plate appearances against lefties (17%) and turned in a .205/.271/.318 slash during that span. A poor spring showing can always change that plan, but it would be a significant change for Abreu. If he can improve to a pitch but below-average output against southpaws with more exposure, it could be a boon for the Sox on the defensive side of things, as Abreu is emerging as one of the better right fielders in the game.
If both Rafaela and Abreu are out for days, that leaves Duran, Anthony and Yoshida in the mix for left field and DH duties. Most likely, most of that time will go to Duran and Anthony. Both are excellent defenders for Yoshida, and both have done better at the plate.
Yoshida is still the anchor of the Sox roster, but he is owed $36MM over the next two seasons and no team is taking that amount (or a significant portion of it). The former NPB star hit .266 last year but with a paltry .307 on-base percentage and just a .388 slugging percentage. By wRC+ rating, he was 12% worse than average at the plate. The Sox may still try to get him occasional at-bats against right-handed pitching. He’s a career .295/.345/.451 hitter in those spots but has hit just .237/.310/.340 against lefties since coming to MLB. In 755 innings in left field, he had already earned poor marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (-4) and Outs Above Average (-8).
