How Caleb Durbin Can Bring the Yankees' Baserunning Excellence to the Brewers—and How They're Helping Him, Too

[Matthew Trueblood]

The infielder and Opening Day roster hopeful comes from an organization famous for the way it trains its minor leaguers to dominate on the bases. How well that skill will translate to his new team—and what he gets back in instruction from them on a new level—might help determine whether he makes the club.

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In just 114 games, Caleb Durbin stole an eye-popping 60 bases last season: 31 in 90 games in the Yankees' minor-league system during the regular season, then 29 in just 24 contests in the Arizona Fall League. He's singularly aggressive when he reaches base, which is no accident. For the last few years, the Yankees have been the state of the art in player development when it comes to getting big leads and stealing bases—both in terms of success rate and in terms of volume.

Durbin knows he's now joining the team who was most aggressive on the bases in the big leagues last year, and that the fit should be hand-in-glove—or foot-in-running shoe, as it were.

“The Yankees, especially in the minor leagues, take baserunning super seriously.," Durbin said Monday, at the Brewers' spring complex in Maryvale. "So when you have an organization that feeds into what you’re trying to get better at and [make] a big part of your game, that helps a lot. It definitely helped me refine a lot of my baserunning tools that I can use here.”

Milwaukee acquired Durbin as the crucial, team-controlled piece in this winter's Devin Williams trade, and now he's in camp, fighting for what are likely to be two open infield spots on the roster: one as the starting third baseman, and another as the utility infielder, roving and filling in for the starters. His speed will be a huge part of his case for one of those spots, though far from the only part. Durbin has come to camp ready to run himself, of course, but he's also doing his best to bring whatever expertise he acquired with him to his new team.

"Yeah, we’ve talked about it a little bit," he said of his conversations about the discipline of basestealing. "Our first-base coach, Julio Borbon, he was with the Yankees at one point. So I’ve talked to him a ton about it, and it’s definitely something that I’ve gotten comfortable with the last couple seasons, with mixing up my looks at first and second to try to keep the defense honest. That’s something that I continue to talk about with guys and coaches here."

The idea of using body language, varied rhythms when pacing out to one's lead, and the occasional bluff to confound opponents who might want to pick him off or anticipate a steal attempt is not talked about much, but it's easy to see how it would matter, once you think about it. Just as a runner wants to pick up tells as to when a pitcher will make a throw to their base, defenses want to know when a runner might take off. Throwing different looks at them makes that harder, and gives the runner an edge. Durbin also acknowledged that getting good information and knowing a pitcher or catcher in advance was essential to his success with the Yankees organization.

"It is a lot of work," he said of maintaining that edge. "It’s more preparation on the pitcher, scouting the pitcher, than people might think. There’s a lot of work with the techniques involved, and the preparation with scouting the pitcher and the defense goes a long way as well."

On that side of the ledger, Durbin has immediately brought value to the table for his new team. That exchange of valuable information goes both ways, though. As Durbin prepares for what he hopes will be his first taste of the big leagues, he can sense a new degree of granularity and aid in the coaching he's getting as a third baseman.

"The Brewers have helped me a ton already in practice, and getting comfortable with positioning, trusting my hands and putting myself in the best position to make a good throw," Durbin said of his work at the hot corner. "All the little things that go into playing a quality third base, they’ve really helped me with so far. I think I’m at a higher level here with the Brewers than I was with the Yankees, so the higher you go, the more specific details you’re gonna go into. I’ve definitely talked a lot with the staff here about really small details that go into playing third base."

That development will be the key to Durbin's roster hopes. The team already likes and trusts Oliver Dunn at third base, but Durbin could be a platoon partner for him. He's a good enough offensive weapon to make a fine complement to Dunn. The glove will determine his staying power, because the team will only hand him the keys if they believe he can man third base comfortably and sure-handedly, on a regular basis.

"I think they’re pretty set on me just being the same player that I’ve been—just trying to do it at a higher level," Dunn said, describing the feedback he's gotten from the team on his offense. "I think what I’m good at as a baseball player fits in really well with the identity of the Brewers from an offensive standpoint, especially with using your legs on the bases, trying to create some chaos there and putting the ball in play."

That's true, too, of Andruw Monasterio and Vinny Capra, when they're going well. The competition for that infield job is far from over. In it, however, Durbin has one big advantage: his speed, and all the value it can create when he leverages it well. His commitment to helping teammates tap into that value, too, might end up being one of the separators for him.

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[Trax]

The way Capra has been hitting the ball so far they may have to find a spot for him. When the big lights go on such a hot streak tends to dip but he's one to watch.

If both Durbin and Dunn hit the ball well thru this month a platoon for the start makes sense.  Hopefully somebody wins an every day job at the hot corner sooner rather than later. 

[jesusoftheapes]

8 hours ago, Trax said:

The way Capra has been hitting the ball so far they may have to find a spot for him. When the big lights go on such a hot streak tends to dip but he's one to watch.

If both Durbin and Dunn hit the ball well thru this month a platoon for the start makes sense.  Hopefully somebody wins an every day job at the hot corner sooner rather than later. 

Not just Vinny with a bat in his hand but the defensive has been better than I remember.   His throwing arm is much better than I remember and he can play 3rd without a doubt after seeing him throw with ease across the corners.

Durbin looks even better as a hitter.    He and Vinny side by side have near the same swing and you can see Caleb swings harder with a higher bat speed .   The defensive nod between the two of those players is neck and neck .     

I think Vinny can be a replacement for Mona if the Brewers want to go that route but Durbin can easily be an active starting weapon nightly for the Brewers and looks like a Sal with more pop to me(so far) .

I think it is this amount of competition that explains the lack of need to shop for lost toys in 2025 offseason that is for sure.     

Dunn makes it all even that much more interesting.    Good problems to have in all ways.  

[jesusoftheapes]

He sure looks to have the things we value as Brewers fans .    Durbin really is an exciting player from the bit I have seen of him so far.   

Oliver Dunn and Vinny Capria have also been really stand outs of the short Spring.  Monasterio is not playing worse than the rest either.  

Nestor is great and will be a big reason we have a great rotation in 2025 but Caleb Durbin has to be the prize in the end if the Williams trade is to be equally valued by both teams.    He looks well on his way .   I think he looks like Sal but with more power and an even smaller strike zone should find bases with regularity.         

Great article.  Thanks for sharing !      

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Has there been other players that have had minor league careers with essentially equal number of striekouts and stolen bases (111 to 110 for Durbin).  That seems like such a crazy stat to me.

I'm excited to see what Durbin can do this year.

[WAN2]

Beefier than expected.  Granularity???

[rafa]

I guess the comments here reflect the old saying. "In the eye of the beholder."

Dunn looks excellent to me and being a lefty, I think he's definitely on the team.  Capra is a solid defender who is having a great Spring Training at the plate but he's not going to keep this up, he'd be the NL MVP!  Still, he's looked solid.

However Durbin has not looked good at all to me.  He's had 2 errors in one week, was slow getting to a grounder yesterday, he's not hitting much although he has a decent swing.  If Dunn and Capra make the team, I''d prefer Durbin in AAA to play regularly and have Monasterio as the last guy. 

In short, Durbin has not impressed me at all and seems to need some work.

[endaround]

The Yankees were last in the league in baserunning last year at -16.9 runs. Hard to think the Yankees as an organization really care that much. They believe in hitting the ball hard. The Brewers, they care a lot about baserunning because it makes up 41% of their runs above average at 19.7 runs.  Of course the Yankees even after their bad base running dwarfed the Brewer offense at 102 runs above average to 47.3.

As for Durbin you can squint and see enough base running to get his ZiP 1.3 WAR as a middle infielder to above 1.5 but its hard to see him above average.

[jesusoftheapes]

7 hours ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

Has there been other players that have had minor league careers with essentially equal number of striekouts and stolen bases (111 to 110 for Durbin).  That seems like such a crazy stat to me.

I'm excited to see what Durbin can do this year.

WE all better be .  It is all we really got for Williams.  I am too. 

[jesusoftheapes]

4 hours ago, endaround said:

The Yankees were last in the league in baserunning last year at -16.9 runs. Hard to think the Yankees as an organization really care that much. They believe in hitting the ball hard. The Brewers, they care a lot about baserunning because it makes up 41% of their runs above average at 19.7 runs.  Of course the Yankees even after their bad base running dwarfed the Brewer offense at 102 runs above average to 47.3.

As for Durbin you can squint and see enough base running to get his ZiP 1.3 WAR as a middle infielder to above 1.5 but its hard to see him above average.

 Never take what the Yankees did not do as a reason for a player to hold value . the are a strange place in pro sports.   

      I assume you were in the group who said we got nothing good for Corbin Burns and that Joey Ortiz DL Hall were a waste of time(Hall may be) ?  Anytime there is a trade there is one specific group of Brewers fans who seem to HATE that player we get no matter who he is and I am telling you to chill and let this one play out because we got a STUD !       

This was a deal everyone should be excited about because Durbin is the most MLB ready prospect they have picked up in a long long time in trade and he is a difference maker who is not in need of seasoning to be good like Joey O was in 2024.     

  The Yankees did not call him up last season because the entire mission with Durbin was to build him into a Trade piece.   They made sure whenever he made the news to let the rest of baseball hear it and if they had called him up last season they would not have been able to trade him off so easy.    The Yankees Fans would have fallen in love with him if he had played so that would cut off their hands in a trade situation later.     Losing his Option status by activating him also devalues him as a trade piece and the Yankees were always planning on trading Durbin so they were not going to call him up to complicate the trade value he had.    

Think of the names of players that franchise has traded away.     Jay Buhner,Mike Lowell, Tyler Clippard,  Ken Phelps, Fred McGriff, McGee, Drabek, Leiter, Rijo, Tewksbury, JT Snow and Caleb Durbin makes the list longer because he is going to have massive success in the MLB for the next decade plus.   

The list is so much longer than this . . The Yankees are famous for trading away future All Stars and HOF players. It is kind of a team model there.     WE scored bigtime with Durbin.   He was a PRIZE to acquire for an Closer who we had 0 chance of keeping beyond 2025.      I love that we got Durbin this offseason. I think when you see him playing fulltime you will change how you see him.          

Caleb Durbin however fits here on this team better than every other team in baseball.   What he offers the Brewers is the same value as Sal Freilick with the 1st pick in a draft without the draft.    Durbin is a fully grown MLB ready player who we did not have to train up to get there and he fits here so well there can only be excitement about his future here. 

[rafa]

3 hours ago, jesusoftheapes said:

WE all better be .  It is all we really got for Williams.  I am too. 

Ah, we got starting pitcher Nestor Cortes!

 

[jesusoftheapes]

1 hour ago, rafa said:

Ah, we got starting pitcher Nestor Cortes!

 

I know but the real keeper player was Durbin.   Nestor is here this year no doubt.   Durbin was made to be a Brewer. 

[Team Canada]

2 hours ago, jesusoftheapes said:

I know but the real keeper player was Durbin.   Nestor is here this year no doubt.   Durbin was made to be a Brewer. 

But you can't just throw out a season of Cortes. Heck, it could easily turn out that a season of Cortes is worth more than a season of Williams. Durbin could never amount to anything and it could still be a net positive trade.

[liveforoctober]

On 3/6/2025 at 2:13 PM, jesusoftheapes said:

WE all better be .  It is all we really got for Williams.  I am too. 

I do understand what you are saying but the Yankees made the World Series and Cortes had the 5th highest WAR (and top pitching WAR) on the team. So the Brewers either get a #3+ starter in a contending year (we will see how valuable that ends up being ) or as long as he pitches to career norms - we get a small haul of prospects to add to the bucket at the deadline.

So I see what you are saying, but the rest of that trade has to be a full part of the convo IMO.

[ghostdrew]

In what world are you writing about this great Yankees excellence in base running. They are built on power that's it .