“I think I'm just attacking the right side of the ball, or the correct side of the ball,” Durbin said. “I'm staying inside it. Even when you're pulling, you have to attack the inside part of the ball to kind of get good spin. You’re not going to hit it perfectly every time. But that’s when your misses on the wrong side of the ball are still hits to left, or top-spun, but they’re still hits. For me, it's just getting back to attack on the ball the right way, and the results have been better.”
And with results, confidence follows.
“Honestly, the last couple of days felt really good. I felt like I was really getting good swings on the ball, and I felt like I was going to get a good result,” Durbin said. “Not just feeling like I'm putting good swings on the ball, but trusting that the result will be good. I’m trending in the right direction. But obviously, there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Perhaps because Durbin is undersized and has had to fight for everything that has come to him, he realizes better than most that, inherently, baseball is a game of failure.
“Obviously, I haven't been in the big leagues super long, but playing this game for most of my life, I've struggled at every level, so haven't gone a season without struggling,” Durbin said. “Just knowing that’s part of the process helps me continue to focus on the work I'm putting in.”
That said, his struggles this time came at the worst possible time, coming to a new team and playing in a pressurized market. But he’s coming out on the right side of it now.
“Really tough when it's to start the year, I'm not going to sugarcoat it,” said Durbin. “It hasn't been easy, but I owe it to my teammates who have helped me keep my head up and keep going.”
And one thing Durbin deserves credit for is that he never let his offensive woes interfere with his defense. He has emerged into one of the best defensive third basemen in the game.
Entering Wednesday, Durbin had +2 Outs Above Average, making him tied for seventh in the Majors at the hot corner. He also has a +2 Fielding Run Value.
“That's part of it at this level,” said Durbin. “One thing I learned last year with the Brewers, they really took a lot of pride in their defense, and I've kind of adapted that mindset. One thing my teammates that I've had in the past say is it doesn't matter where your offense is at, it's going to go up and down. Your defense has to be consistent. So that's something I've taken a lot of pride in.”
