What's Your Durbin Mid Season Evaluation

[Turning2]

The short of it for me is that he has been much better than expected defensively. Of course, we all want better offense from 3B. The recent uptick is very welcome. The Brewers needed a band aid to bridge the position until one of the several prospects are ready in a year, probably two. I think that's the role they intended Durbin to play, and he is doing so with enough success. By band aid, I mean at least average defense, and not a complete liability on offense. The latter aspect is coming around. In reality, the defense has been better than average to my eyes. I was concerned about his arm strength, but it hasn't negatively affected his play to the point of costing them games. There have been a couple plays where his height prevented him from reaching a ball when laying out, but that's to be expected. 

[JCREW]

Nothing happens in a vacuum.

Having Durbin in that spot giving that defense for his current contract is better than having Dunn or Capra at 3B and Devin Williams and his contract in the bullpen. 

I have struggled to imagine a reasonable alternative at 3B that would be a big improvement, and it feels like it would be too much prospect or financial capital for it to be worth it. 

For those reasons, I'm content with current Durbin, and hopeful about future Durbin. 

[OldHeidelberg]

He has earned the job, at least for now. I sort of thought he was brought up because they needed a better bat but his defense has been solid, at least according to bref. He has been hitting better recently and you would like to think he has some upside there. 

[tmwiese55]

Seems like he can hold down the fort and at least be competent/ok enough to not kill you the way 3B/SS was for the first month or so.   In an ideal world, he'd be a backup and seems like a great jack of all trades utility player to fill in all over the place and can start for a while and not kill you. Not sure if he's done any OF but I'd be surprised if he can't pick it up and be competent.  Someone in the Kiki/Taylor type mold that those guys have done for LAD over the years. 

[Playing Catch]

That line drive off Skenes yesterday was awesome.

That dinger down the line on Tuesday was awesome.

He's had a fair number of plays this season at 3rd that have raised my eyebrows.

He's still just 225 PAs into his big-league career, but I've been pleased that he brought his low K% with him from the minors. He covers the zone really well, and knows when he can do damage, and when he has to take what he can get. His BB% leaves a lot of room for improvement based on his minors numbers. And actually, so does the power... and his baserunning, based on the eye-test.

So, considering that he's already passing the test as a positive-WAR contributor, despite not matching his minor-league profile, I'm thrilled with Durbin's contributions so far ['so far' being the operative phrase].

 

[Turning2]

2 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

He has earned the job, at least for now. I sort of thought he was brought up because they needed a better bat but his defense has been solid, at least according to bref. He has been hitting better recently and you would like to think he has some upside there. 

I was expecting a little more bat but less glove skills. He's getting there offensively though,