Why Red Sox’s Caleb Durbin is not in lineup for A’s clash, ending 45-game streak

With the Boston Red Sox taking on the Athletics on Sunday in the series finale, the one player who won’t be involved is third baseman Caleb Durbin, which breaks an impressive streak. As Durbin’s future with the Red Sox is bright, especially being part of the team’s turnaround recently, interim manager Chad Tracy explains the day off for the 26-year-old.

Speaking before the contest between Boston and the Athletics, Tracy goes into giving Durbin a day off, as the infielder has started every game since June 17, making it 45 contests. Tracy would even admit that Durbin was one of the players the team had been “running into the ground,” saying that the young star has been “grinding hard,” according to Christopher Smith of MassLive.

“Just a day,” Tracy said. “That’s part of the guys that we’ve been kind of running into the ground. You’re going through this stretch, and you feel like [a] hot day game like one of those guys I need to get off their feet. And at some point during the road trip I have to tend to Rafa (Ceddanne Rafaela) and Mona (Andruw Monasterio), too. But Durbin’s been grinding hard and felt like today was the day to do it.”

How Caleb Durbin has been performing for the Red Sox 

Heading into Sunday’s game, Durbin had recorded a .251 batting average to go along with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs, though since the start of June, he has a much better .307 batting average, showing the improvements he made. At any rate, Durbin is likely to return to Boston’s starting lineup with the start of the next four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, which starts on Monday night.

Before the series finale against the Athletics, the Red Sox had a 64-52 record, which put them third in the AL East, as the team is one-and-a-half games behind the New York Yankees for second in the division. With the Tampa Bay Rays at 70-46, Boston is six games behind them and holds a wild-card spot at the moment.

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