Boston Red Sox hitters turn to outside coaches as offense stalls

Third baseman Caleb Durbin, who was batting .147 early in the 2026 season, began working with Aaron Judge’s personal hitting coach Richard Schenck after a previous stint with external consultant Gradum Gswing. Schenck focused on eliminating Durbin’s head movement during swings, prompting a rapid improvement; Durbin posted a .333 slash line across nine games in June, including two doubles and a higher OPS.

Left fielder Jarren Duran, who enjoyed a breakout May with a .261 average, 9 home runs and an .879 OPS, saw his production tumble to a .167 average in early June. He described his performance as “playing like (expletive) at the plate” and said he must figure out how to improve, noting that his only June home run came in a win over the Texas Rangers.