Yankees prospect Durbin trying to swipe his way to 40-man spot

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Fall League has never seen a base stealer like Caleb Durbin.

The Yankees prospect added another notch to his stolen-base prowess during Salt River's 8-3 win over Mesa at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Saturday afternoon. By virtue of three stolen bases, Durbin is up to 22 steals in just 18 games, which puts him in sole possession of second place on the league's all-time single-season SB list.

The man he passed to claim that mark? Himself, of course.

Already the league's all-time stolen-base king with 43 and counting, Durbin has just one man to beat: Rick Holifield, who holds the single-season Fall League record with 24 in 1994, more than five years before Durbin was born.

"It wasn't my goal or anything," Durbin said, "but I knew how close I got last year [with 21 steals], and midway through this year, I was like, 'I think I could get it.' I've been really pushing for it."

There is virtually no corner of the Fall League stolen-base record books that Durbin hasn't had his feet in. When he swiped four bags for Salt River back on Oct. 25, he tied the single-game steals record. The Rafters racked up 10 stolen bases as a club that day, setting the league's all-time mark. (The last Major League club to steal 10 bags in a game was the Marlins on May 18, 2000.)

It's not as if Durbin has been running with reckless abandon: he's been caught stealing just once on 23 attempts this fall.

"I think that's an underrated part of baserunning -- just being a threat to steal a base makes [the pitcher] think a little bit more, which is in turn obviously gonna help the hitter a little bit," Durbin said.

That bared true from the jump Saturday. After drawing a leadoff walk against Jackson Lancaster (Rays), the southpaw had a long look over to first before airmailing the next pitch to the backstop. Already in scoring position, Durbin took off on the next offering and slid safely into third. On the third pitch of the at-bat, D-backs No. 5 prospect Tommy Troy clobbered a two-run homer.

That Durbin is back in the Fall League requires a two-pronged explanation: during the second game of a doubleheader on May 23 with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Durbin was drilled on the right wrist by a fastball. He initially stayed in the game to run the bases (naturally) but later left due to what he had feared: he had broken his wrist.

Two months on the sidelines meant that Durbin would be an excellent candidate to make up for lost at-bats in the Fall League. Which is where the other major factor comes in: the Yankees need to add the 24-year-old to their 40-man roster this offseason, or else they will expose him to the Rule 5 Draft, which will take place during the Winter Meetings in Dallas in December.

Durbin has been a base-stealing dynamo since joining pro ball as a 14th-round selection of the Braves in 2021 out of Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.). Part of a Dec. 2022 deal that sent left-hander Lucas Luetge back in the other direction, the Yankees landed Durbin, who has recently taken on a jack-of-all-trades utility role, having already logged starts at five different positions (second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field) in the Fall League.

While the Fall League has served as Durbin's proverbial stolen-base playground, he hasn't always run at will as he's made his way up the Yankees' ranks. That said, he still swiped 31 bases across three levels this year, giving him at least 30 steals in each of his first three seasons of pro ball.

"I think just being a little bit more selective, a little more educated in Triple-A," Durbin said of his mindset. "Here, I'm just kind of letting it fly and having fun with it."

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That type of electricity on the basepaths is appealing to Major League clubs, particularly with the new rules regarding limited pickoff attempts. The Yankees ranked 12th out of 15 American League clubs in steals (88) during the 2024 regular season and haven't had a 30-base stealer since Jacoby Ellsbury in 2014.

Which is all to say that Durbin, who knows the math behind how long it takes for his wheels to beat the catcher's pop time, also knows the math behind roster construction and what lies ahead this winter.

"One-hundred percent," he said of trying to impress big league brass. "I mean, that's why you play the game, is to help a big league team at the highest level. That's been on my mind since I've gotten to pro ball. Now that it's kind of around the corner, it's definitely a little more fun to think about because it's right there.

"But I definitely want to try to put on a show out here and showcase what I can do."