Brewers fans won't believe Red Sox fans' embarrassing early Caleb Durbin takes

Kyle Harrison finally made his long-awaited Milwaukee Brewers debut and made a strong impression, pitching five innings of one-run ball while striking out eight against the Tampa Bay Rays. Expectations remain high for the former top prospect now that he's with the pitching wizards in Milwaukee.

However, the other end of that much-discussed trade with the Boston Red Sox hasn't gone quite as swimmingly. Caleb Durbin struggled badly in his debut with his new team, going 0-for-12 against the Cincinnati Reds in the season's opening series and 0-for-2 in last night's series opener against the Houston Astros. He's reached base just one time via walk, leading to a disastrous .067 OPS and -100 wRC+.

Still, that's hardly enough of a sample to garner reactions like this:

Boston fans aren't exactly famous for their patience, and a 1-3 start certainly didn't help Durbin's case. Still, there should be few doubters that he'll find a way to turn the ship around before long.

Caleb Durbin's slow start in Boston looks worse after Kyle Harrison dominates Rays

Fans of the Brewers will remember that Durbin had a slow start to his big-league career in 2025 as well, but he turned things around by the end of the season.

In his first three MLB games, the third baseman had just two hits (both singles) in 12 plate appearances. That added up to a .432 OPS and 28 wRC+, which certainly wasn't the debut the team had in mind. Nevertheless, Durbin rebounded shortly thereafter; after a subpar May, he posted above-average wRC+ figures in every month the rest of the season.

More than likely, he'll be just fine. It's too early to make much sense of any data, but Durbin remains excellent at squaring up the ball in 2026, and it's actually starting to translate into hard contact this time around. The results haven't been there, but the process certainly has.

Red Sox fans have had the luxury of rooting for elite third basemen for the last decade, so it's understandable that they'd be running thin on patience for the man appointed to replace Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman. But that's not Durbin's fault — it's the front office's. He doesn't have star power, but he's a sure-handed defender with offensive upside, which is all you can really ask from a 26-year-old in their second big-league season.

This has the potential to be a win-win trade for both sides, but not everyone can succeed as quickly as Harrison. His debut with the Brewers was his best start (by Game Score) since his topsy-turvy 2024 campaign with the San Francisco Giants, flashing the precise control scouts have been longing for. More of that from him is only going to make things harder for Durbin to catch up, but again, he wasn't the one who decided to execute the trade.