German Duran

German Duran

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.
• School Texas Christian University, Weatherford College
• High School Paschal High School
• Debut April 17, 2008
• Final Game September 28, 2008
• Born August 3, 1984 in Zacatecas, Zacatecas Mexico

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Biographical Information

German Duran played in the majors in 2008.

Duran was born in Mexico and raised in Fort Worth, TX. He was drafted in the 32nd round of the Cincinnati Reds in 2003 as a shortstop out of high school but opted for college instead.

German went on to Texas Christian University. As a freshman, he hit .330/.427/.492 with 46 runs in 51 games. Collegiate Baseball named him as a freshman All-American. Duran batted .357/.471/.670 in 2005 after transferring to Weatherford College. He set a school record with 13 home runs. He would later become the first major leaguer to come out of Weatherford. The Texas Rangers took him in the 6th round of the 2005 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Jay Eddings for $90,000 and made his pro debut that summer.

Duran hit .262/.313/.393 for the 2005 Spokane Indians in his professional debut. In 2006, he moved up to the Bakersfield Blaze and batted .284/.331/.446 with 81 runs, 31 doubles and 15 steals in 24 tries. He led the team in both runs and RBI (72).

Duran produced at a .300/.352/.525 clip for the 2007 Frisco RoughRiders with 81 runs, 32 doubles, 22 home runs, 84 RBI and 11 steals in 13 tries. He moved to second base from shortstop. He was second in the Texas League with 184 hits and also ranked second in RBI. He was third in total bases (252) and slugging and 5th in batting average. He won the Home Run Derby at the TL All-Star Game, for a $5,000 award. In the 2007 Futures Game, Duran started at second base for the World team and batted 6th. He faced Chuck Lofgren in the second inning and flew out to Jacoby Ellsbury in left field. In the 4th, Duran was struck out by Kevin Mulvey. In the bottom of the 5th, Craig Stansberry replaced Duran as the World second baseman.

He hit .281 for the Grand Canyon Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. Baseball America rated him as the #14 prospect in the Texas League and the best defensive second baseman in the league.

Duran began 2008 with the Oklahoma RedHawks and hit .250/.311/.400 in 10 games. He was called up to Texas when Hank Blalock was sidelined with a back injury. He made his big league debut on April 17, hitting 9th and playing third base. He struck out against Roy Halladay in the third inning in his first major league at-bat; he fanned in his next two at-bats for a 0-for-3 debut. He got his first hit in the majors off Jon Lester and his first home run off Greg Smith. For the season, he got into 60 games and hit .231/.275/.350 with 22 runs and 16 RBI. He fielded .921 in 30 games at 3B and also played error-free ball at 2B (17 G), OF (7 G) and SS (2 G). He also played 11 more games for Oklahoma to finish at .261/.318/.390 there.

Duran opened 2009 with Oklahoma but hit a measly .149/.185/.207 in 25 games. Texas waived him and he was claimed by the Houston Astros, but he was just 6 for 44 with a double and four walks for the Corpus Christi Hooks and got into 4 games for the GCL Astros. In 2010, he did better with the Hooks (.284/.336/.383 in 64 G) and Round Rock Express (.238/.273/.333 in 33 G). He split 2011 between the Grand Prairie AirHogs (13 for 49, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 3 SB) and Leones de Yucatan (2 for 15). He ended his career in the Miami Marlins organization with the '12 Jacksonville Suns, going 7 for 33 with a double, 3 homers and 3 walks. In 494 minor league games, he had hit .271/.323/.427 with 51 home runs, 267 runs and 260 RBI in 494 games.

Sources

• 2008 Rangers Media Guide
• MILB.com
• The Baseball Cube
• TCU bio