FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox’ penciled-in infield plans are starting to be written in pen.
Newcomer Caleb Durbin will be the starting third baseman, he said Wednesday, relaying what manager Alex Cora told him a day prior.
That makes official what had looked likely shortly after the Red Sox acquired him from the Brewers via trade last month.
“I’m going to stick at third from now on,” Durbin said. “Up until that, I guess it was pretty much just looking at the [bulletin] board and wherever I was [listed] that day — and I was mostly at third, obviously. But [Tuesday], [Cora] said I’m going to stay put at third for now.”
Durbin, 26, is entering his second season in the majors. He bounced all over the infield in the minors, including a lot of second base in the upper minors with the Yankees, then switched to third pretty much full time with the Brewers last year.
Upon his arrival at Sox camp, Cora said they would consider him at third and at second, and they did. But they want to allow him to play one position, believing that consistency in infield alignment will allow for better defensive outcomes for the unit.
“I don’t want Caleb to be moving from second to third during the season,” Cora said last week. “I want him to play one position only, and then just go do your thing at the plate.”
Durbin’s thing at the plate as a rookie was league-average offensive production, including a .256 average, .334 on-base, and .387 slugging percentage. He has strong contact skills, but the Red Sox believe they can help him hit for more power, especially playing half of his games at Fenway Park.
That part they will figure out beginning Opening Day next week. What they know now: He’ll man the hot corner.
“I love third base. I’m excited,” Durbin said. “I’m ready wherever the team needs me, though, is kind of the idea. But they feel good with me at third. I obviously feel good at third. So, excited. Hopefully stick around there for a little bit.”
The Red Sox haven’t formalized their plans for second base, but Marcelo Mayer remains the favorite. Trevor Story returns at shortstop, and Willson Contreras will play first.
Eyes on 2028 Olympics
The next major international baseball competition will be the 2028 Olympics, in which big leaguers may be allowed to participate.
Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet was comfortable declining an invitation to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic this time around.
Would the Olympics, in Los Angeles that July, be any different?
He doesn’t know, he said. But maybe.
“At the end of the day, we’re getting paid very handsomely to play for the Red Sox,” Crochet said Wednesday. “And everyone is like, ‘He’s unpatriotic.’ It’s not about that, man. It’s about you have a job and a sense of duty to this team. I don’t feel as though I would have a sense of duty to compete in the Olympics. But I think that it would be really cool.”
Still, Crochet struggles with the logistics. An All-Star break is nice; doing the Olympics would eliminate that reprieve.
“If the worst-case scenario [of a significant injury] happens, you’d just be kicking yourself,” Crochet said. “And everyone would hate you. You’d just feel like you let everybody down. … Me and my wife have talked about it and were like, yeah, not this WBC, but the Olympics, maybe. But at the same time, every time that comes up, I’m like, really though? I don’t know. I got no answer for you.”
Proud from afar
Of the Red Sox’ five Venezuelan players, three were on the World Baseball Classic-winning team: Wilyer Abreu, Contreras, and Ranger Suarez. Another, Andruw Monasterio, made the nearly five-hour round trip to Miami on Tuesday to watch from the stands as his country and friends took the championship game.
The last, Carlos Narváez, avoided the drive but was no less proud watching at home.
“I cried with them,” Narváez said. “I’m so proud of all the boys, especially Wilyer, Willson, and Ranger — three of our guys. I [felt] bad for [Team USA’s Garrett] Whitlock and Roman [Anthony], but on our side, in our country, I know how big this is. I’m so proud of those guys. … They’re heroes.”
Catching up
Contreras totaled just 13 plate appearances in Venezuela’s seven WBC games, so Cora said the Sox will make sure to get him plenty of at-bats, including potentially in minor league games, in the coming days. Conversely, the Sox will “take care of” heavily-worked WBC relievers Whitlock and Greg Weissert (Team Italy) over the second half of this week, the manager said … No. 5 starter favorite Johan Oviedo stretched out to 72 pitches in a minor league game against the Twins at Fenway South. Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford, both set to open the year on the injured list after missing all of last season with injuries, each threw two innings … Vinny Nittoli, a 35-year-old veteran of 15 major league games, had season-ending elbow surgery last week — and fully intends on returning to pitch in 2027, he said. He was in Sox camp on a minor league contract but needed an internal brace procedure in his right elbow. He is out 8-10 months and hopes to pitch in winter ball next year. It was a vastly better outcome, he said, than what would have been his second Tommy John surgery, which would have put his 2027 at risk as well.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.