Caleb Durbin had surgery Thursday for the second time in the month since the Red Sox’ season ended.
The latest operation fixed the bone along the outside of his right foot. The team called it a “partial excision of the fifth metatarsal base with tendon repair” in its release.
“It was an older injury that we were aware of,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a text. “The symptoms can be managed and he was adamant about playing through.”
That gamer mentality endeared Durbin to teammates — and the fan base — in his first year with the Sox. Although his offense tailed off with his health near the end of the season, he had a .248/.332/.378 slash line and provided high-end defense at third base (for which he is a Gold Glove finalist).
Dr. Anish R. Kadakia, a foot and ankle specialist, performed the operation at Northwestern Medical in Chicago. Durbin goes home to Illinois in the offseason. Since this procedure and rehabilitation are straightforward, the Red Sox had him get the surgery there, as opposed to having him return to Boston, Breslow said.
Surgery is meant to resolve the symptoms, which should render the foot a non-issue come spring training.
Durbin’s first surgery was a “reconstruction,” the Red Sox said in a release on Oct. 11, of his left pinkie finger. He injured the finger initially in late June and worsened it in early August.
The Red Sox sought to wait until he was sufficiently healed from that operation before having him go back under the knife for the foot repair.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.
