Boston Red Sox
Durbin batted .283 over his final 105 games of the season, despite dealing with several finger injuries.
Caleb Durbin dealt with several injuries down the stretch with Boston. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe
October 12, 2026 | 6:37 PM
2 minutes to read
After playing through a left pinky injury for most of the 2026 season, Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin underwent surgery this past week.
The team announced on Sunday that Durbin underwent a PIP joint reconstruction performed by Dr. Matthew Leibman at Newton-Wellesley Surgery Center. The PIP joint is the finger’s middle hinge joint.
The 26-year-old third baseman dealt with the pinky injury through the second half of the 2026 season after initially dislocating the digit while sliding into first base against the Rockies on June 24.
Despite the injury, Durbin returned to the lineup the next day for the Red Sox — clubbing a go-ahead, two-run shot against Cam Schlittler to secure a comeback win over the Yankees at Fenway Park.
That clutch homer sparked Boston’s 32-5 surge, carrying the Red Sox out of the cellar of the American League standings and into the playoff picture.
Even after suffering that finger injury — and reaggravating it during Boston’s 13-inning win over the White Sox on Aug. 6 — Durbin played his best baseball after that ailment.
After batting just .163 in his first 48 games with Boston, he hit .283 in his final 105 games with the Red Sox.
Durbin told Tim Healey of The Boston Globe that he couldn’t straighten his finger for the final two months of the season, but he didn’t consider going on the IL to fix it. To play through it, he tapped his injured pinky to his ring finger — and cut up his batting gloves to account for the swollen joint.
“It doesn’t quite straighten or bend all the way,” Durbin told the Globe in September. “There really is kind of a joint understanding [with the team] that we’ll get it looked at at the end of the season if we have to, because [whatever the diagnosis is], it’s not going to impact my decision to play at all.”
In his first full season with the Red Sox, Durbin slashed .248/.332/.378 with 25 home runs, 13 home runs, 64 RBI, and 20 steals.
He also provided plenty of value in the field at the hot corner. Durbin should be a frontrunner for the AL Gold Glove at third base, as he leads all American League players at that position with 13 defensive runs saved.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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