Not much has gone right for the Boston Red Sox in the month of June, as they’ll limp into Friday night's series opener against the Texas Rangers at 27-39, tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the second-fewest wins in baseball. There is, however, at least one positive to take from the last two weeks of Red Sox baseball: key offseason addition third baseman Caleb Durbin is finally swinging a hot bat after being one of the worst hitters in baseball to start the season. 

Durbin entered his first season in Boston in a tough spot, being seen by fans as the replacement for both Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers; however, he did little to ingratiate himself with Boston fans, struggling mightily in the first two months of the season. 

Through May 31, Durbin ranked in the bottom six among all qualified hitters in baseball in batting average, slugging percentage, and soft hit percentage, while ranking as the worst hitter in the sport in on-base percentage (.250) and weighted runs created+ (44). His slow start to the season led interim manager Chad Tracy to sit the 26-year-old NL Rookie of the Year finalist for a handful of games in mid-May. 

However, since the calendar turned to June, the 26-year-old third baseman has started to turn a corner, hitting .333/.357/.630/.987 with his first two home runs not off a position player. His wRC+ of 168 leads all Boston's qualified hitters in the month. 

After the slow start to the season, Durbin was seen in multiple social media videos working with private instructors on his swing, including Richard Schenck, who is most known for his work with reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge. 

"One thing I'm working on is the way I'm attacking the ball, and for me it's bat path," Durbin told WEEI's Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast. Durbin describes his bat path as too flat, preventing him from staying inside the ball for long. "If I'm swinging at a more vertical bat angle, I'm not uppercutting it, but I'm able to stay inside the ball for a longer part, have my barrel in the one longer while staying inside the ball, that's big time," he continued. 

The adjustment has already appeared to pay massive dividends for Durbin, who is hitting the ball much harder to start the month than he had in the first two months of the season. In Durbin's first 182 plate appearances, he had only a 28.8 percent hard hit rate with just three barrelled balls. In his first 28 plate appearances in June, he has a 44 percent hard hit rate, already barrelling two balls. 

What is most encouraging about Durbin's hot stretch is that his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is slightly higher than the league average of .300 at .308, meaning the recent stretch isn't a result of some batted ball luck. 

Despite Durbin's recent surge, it has not been enough to snap the anemic Red Sox offense out of the funk they have been in since the calendar turned to June. After seeing offensive numbers rise to around league average across the board in May, the Boston offense has regressed right back to where it found itself in March and April, at the bottom of the league. 

In their first eight games of June, the Red Sox offense ranks in the bottom two in baseball in batting average (T-29, .215), on-base percentage (30th, .255), and runs scored (29th, 27), while boasting the worst wRC+ in the sport at 67, 33 percent worse than league average. Leading to a 2-6 record in the month, which has dropped the team to 12 games below .500 in June for the first time since the 1997 season. 

The Red Sox will look to right the ship on Friday night when they open a three-game set against the Rangers at Fenway Park. Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.20 ERA) opposite Jack Leiter (3-5, 4.69 ERA) for Texas. First pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

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