Caleb Durbin's AFL Fall Stars Game performance showed off key attribute to Yankees

There's "bat-to-ball skills," and then there's whatever the hell you'd call what New York Yankees prospect Caleb Durbin has developed in recent years.

Not only does Durbin control the zone well and make solid contact, but he strikes out at a laughably low rate. In 2,376 plate appearances -- encompassing college, summer ball, and the pros -- Durbin has struck out fewer times than Aaron Judge did in 2024. And not by a small margin, either; Durbin's got Judge 191 to 152, counting Judge's postseason.

That's almost a circus stunt level of contact skill, and it's been the defining trait of Durbin's prospect status for many years. But Judge is the presumptive American League MVP because he hits for obscene power. Does Durbin possess some semblance of raw talent in that department, too? He'll never be a behemoth, but since joining the Yankees' organization, he's worked tirelessly to maximize the pop in his swing.

It's been fruitful, as evidenced by the inside-out approach he took to the right-center gap in the Arizona Fall League's Fall Stars Game.

Yankees' Caleb Durbin blends power, speed, fielding versatility in AFL Fall Stars Game

That's on top of an .839 OPS and 10 homers in 335 Triple-A at-bats this season, for what it's worth, and he's now continuing the ascent on the biggest prospect stage.

And oh, did we get this far down in a glowing Durbin article without noting that, after stealing 31 bags with Scranton this season, he's blasted past the AFL's single-season stolen base record, going 48-for-52 over the course of his two Octobers in the desert?

Will he play second in 2025 for the big club in Gleyber Torres' wake? Will the Yankees shift Jazz Chisholm back to his natural spot and try Durbin at third? Luckily, and surely not by coincidence, Durbin played third in the weekend show case and made a diving robbery, executing the throw to first.

That's not quite Chisholm's hose, but that level of versatility will play.

Handing the reins to a rookie in another season of Judge's and Gerrit Cole's prime is inherently risky, and if Juan Soto spurns the Yankees, they'll need to expand their budget to include some proven veteran options.

But if the Yankees are being careful with their finances, they could certainly do worse than planting their flag on the career of a record-setting speedster whose power is trending up and who can dive across the infield dirt at a variety of angles. There's a reason Aaron Boone just called him a "stud," and that reason is not delusion.