Wrestling to MLB? Brewers rookie from suburbs took unique path
Every path to the major leagues is unique, but Brewers rookie third baseman Caleb Durbin has one you don't see often — mixing baseball with wrestling.
Durbin qualified for the state wrestling tournament as a senior at Lake Forest High School. His older brother Regis won a state title on the mat in 2014. Both his brother and father (also Regis) wrestled in college at Northwestern.
“Yeah, it was big in my family,” Durbin said Thursday at Wrigley Field. “Really enjoyed it growing up, and I liked playing baseball, so there were just two sports I really gravitated towards.
“You don't really see it that often, the combination of the two. But with my passion for baseball and obviously wrestling being in my family, it just kind of worked out that way.”
Originally drafted by Atlanta in 2021 out of Washington (Mo.) University, Durbin has been Milwaukee's primary third baseman since mid-April. He hit his third home run of the season in the second inning of the Brewers' 8-7 victory Thursday.
Durbin has been traded twice, joining the Brewers in December from the Yankees in the Devin Williams deal. Milwaukee began the year splitting third base duties between Vinny Capra and Oliver Dunn, then called up Durbin and gave him the job April 18. One rookie highlight was Durbin's walk-off home run against San Diego two weeks ago.
When it comes to major-league players who wrestled in high school, Durbin knew of J.T. Realmuto. The Phillies catcher comes from a family considered Oklahoma wrestling royalty. His uncle John Smith won two NCAA titles, two Olympic gold medals and was head coach at Oklahoma State for 34 years.
But Realmuto himself gave up the sport in junior high, so even he can't match Durbin's accomplishment. Cubs first baseman Michael Busch has a similar unique history, as one of the few in MLB who played hockey in high school.
“Wrestling's such a tough sport that everything else you do in life, it kind of prepares you for that,” Durbin said. “Just because it teaches you how to push yourself and work through (obstacles). The cutting weight aspect is super tough, so it teaches you to push your limits and I think that just helps with everything.”
Asked his favorite high school memory, Durbin mentioned a walk-off grand slam by teammate Cal Coughlin to beat Palatine in a 2016 regional semifinal. Durbin was a sophomore at the time, while Coughlin went on to play at TCU and pitched for the Chicago Dogs last year.
“Then we went on to win the regional final against Stevenson, lost a close one in the sectional semifinals against Mundelein,” Durbin said. “That whole season was a lot of fun. We had a really good team, a team that could have made it downstate, but had a couple injuries on our pitching staff that hurt us.”
Durbin was aware Lake Forest's arch rival, Libertyville, won the state baseball title last weekend. He's not even mad about it.
“Anytime a team from the North Shore wins it, it's pretty cool,” he said. “Even though they're a big rivalry for us, it's still cool to see.”