It was no secret that Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin was battling injuries in his first season with the team. In particular, a pinky injury that he played through and caused a significant amount of discomfort. That would require surgery once the season came to an end.
Now, it's being reported that Durbin needed to have a second surgery. This time on his foot, which previously wasn't a publicly known injury.
"Caleb Durbin had another surgery, the Red Sox say, 'a successful partial excision of the fifth metatarsal base with tendon repair. The procedure was performed by Dr. Anish R. Kadakia at Northwestern Medical in Chicago, IL,'" Chris Cotillo of MassLive wrote.
In layman's terms, it's a foot injury. The extent of that injury was clearly bad enough that it required surgery, but not so bad that it kept him from playing. However, there's obviously the possibility it affected his ability to play to his full potential.
Durbin's first surgery was a "reconstruction" of his pinky finger. Now, he can add the surgery to his foot, which should be a non-issue come Spring Training.
While the injury may have been a surprise to Red Sox fans, it wasn't a surprise to the Red Sox themselves. CBO Craig Breslow confirmed that the team previously knew that Durbin was dealing with the tendon injury in his foot.
"It was an older injury that we were aware of," Breslow said , per The Boston Globe . "The symptoms can be managed and he was adamant about playing through."
That toughness has become endearing to many Red Sox fans in Durbin's brief time in Boston. Not every player in baseball is able to play through pain that same way, but with a major finger injury that everyone could see was causing him pain on swings and getting re-injured, he earned a reputation for his toughness.
The procedure itself, as well as the rehab for it, is considered relatively straightforward. According to Breslow, that's why the team is fine with him getting the work done in Illinois, away from the team.
2026 ended up being a long year for Durbin. He was traded from the eventual World Series champions, the Milwaukee Brewers , to the Red Sox in February. Immediately, the pressure was on to become a replacement for Alex Bregman , which was never a fair thing to ask him to do right away.
Then, the season started and Durbin struggled out of the gate. Fans began consistently booing him, and even with Durbin playing hard, it was hard to ignore the pressure on him to put up better numbers.
Like many of the Red Sox, however, Durbin managed to have a bit of a mid-season renaissance. He found his swing in early June and would play well throughout the summer. That was even as he suffered that pinky injury. It wouldn't be until his injury got worse in August when he began to cool off once again.
Durbin finished the season with a .248 batting average, .332 OBP, .378 slugging percentage, and .710 OPS. He had 13 home runs and 64 RBIs, to go along with 20 stolen bases.
Now, Durbin has had multiple surgeries. Hopefully, he'll fully rebound for the start of a healthier 2027 season.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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