Red Sox’s Alex Cora Sees Outfielder Jarren Duran In ‘Great Place’
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran has turned the tables this season with Boston, utilizing his strengths in order to produce at a career-best level.
Reminiscent of Boston’s start to the campaign, Duran needed to play catch up in order to reach the point of being a no-brainer in the starting lineup, fighting for a chance after failing to earn a roster spot by Opening Day. Yet, the 26-year-old has undergone a complete transformation from last season, flourishing at the plate as one of the most valuable members of manager Alex Cora’s roster.
“There’s aggression with him. It feels like whenever he hits a ground ball, on the bench we feel like he’s gonna get to second all the time,” Cora said Tuesday on WEEI’s “Gresh & Fauria” show. “Good for him, as you guys know, last year he opened up toward the end of the season talking about expectations and letting people down, anxiety and all that, he opened up about that. Good things happen and he’s in a great place right now.”
Before ever making it to the big league level, Duran’s speed on the base path was always undeniable. However, applying that speed — which Duran successfully managed to do in 2023 — has propelled him from fulfilling a platoon role to patrolling Boston’s centerfield on a night-to-night basis.
Duran is batting .317 with five home runs and 33 RBIs, sprinting his way to second in the American League in doubles (29) in a career-high 74 games played with a 2.0 WAR. The defense side also hasn’t been a problem with Duran having recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, yet to commit an error in 121 defensive chances.
Since the start of July, Durran has batted .472, going 17-for-36 with eight doubles and two triples in his last 12 games.
If this efficiency from both sides of the diamond continues, it’ll be hard for the Red Sox to not keep Duran on the field on a regular basis as Boston hunts for postseason contention in the final two-plus months of the season.
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