Northwoods League Alums Caleb Durbin and Chandler Simpson Debut in MLB
April 21, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods) News Release
Rochester, Minn. - Former Rockford Rivet and Fond Du Lac Dock Spider Caleb Durbin as well as former Dock Spider Chandler Simpson made their Major League debuts on April 18 and April 19 respectively. Durbin is the 379th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level and Simpson is the 380th.
Durbin, who played collegiately at Washington University in St. Louis, played for the Rockford Rivets in 2019 and the Dock Spiders in 2020 and 2021. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Atlanta Braves.
In 2019 with the Rivets, Durbin played in 18 games and hit .243 with one home run, three doubles and seven RBI. He stole five bases and scored 12 times. In 2020 with Fond du Lac, he played in 14 games and hit .316 with 12 RBI, three steals, and 18 runs scored. During the 2021 season he appeared in 20 games and hit .302 with 10 RBI and seven stolen bases.
Durbin started his professional career in 2021 with the Braves Rookie level team in the Florida Complex League. In 17 games he hit .268 with 12 stolen bases, six RBI, and eight runs scored.
In 2022 Durbin started the season with the Augusta GreenJackets of the Low-A Carolina League. After 73 games he was promoted to the Rome Braves of the High-A South Atlantic League. For the year, he played in 105 games and hit .241 with eight home runs, 62 RBI, and 31 stolen bases.
In December of 2022 Durbin was traded to the New York Yankees along with RHP Indigo Diaz in exchange for LHP Lucas Luetge. Durbin would start the 2023 season with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A South Atlantic League. After 22 games he moved up to the Somerset Patriots of the Double-A Eastern League. Across 69 games he hit .304 with four home runs, 25 RBI, and 36 stolen bases.
In 2024 Durbin started the year with Tampa in the Low-A Florida State League. He then would play seven games in Somerset before another promotion to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League. For the season, he played in 90 games and hit .275 with 10 home runs, 60 RBI, and 29 stolen bases.
Prior to the 2025 season Durbin was traded to the Brewers along with Nestor Cortes in exchange for Devin Williams. Prior to his call-up to the Brewers, Durbin had played in 13 games with the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A International League. He was hitting .278 with two home runs and three steals.
In his Major League debut against the Athletics, Durbin started the game at second and went 2 for 4 at the plate with a run scored.
Chandler Simpson, who played collegiately at the Georgia Institute of Technology, played for the Dock Spiders in 2021. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2022 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Simpson started his professional career in 2022 with the Rays Rookie level team in the Florida Complex League. In eight games he hit .370 with three RBI and eight stolen bases.
In 2023 Simpson began the year with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Low-A Carolina League. After 91 games he was promoted to the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the High-A South Atlantic League. Between the two clubs he played in 115 games and hit .294 with 31 RBI, 94 stolen bases, 88 runs scored.
Simpson started the 2024 season with Bowling Green and then moved up to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits of the South Atlantic League. Over a combined 110 games he hit .355 and stole 104 bases.
Prior to his call-up to the Rays, Simpson had appeared in 17 games with the Durham Bulls of the Triple-A International League. He was hitting .301 with eight steals and 13 runs scored.
In his Major League debut against the Yankees, Simpson started the game at shortstop and went 1 for 5 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI.
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