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Jarren Duran

From BR Bullpen

Jarren William Duran

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Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder Jarren Duran was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 7th round of the 2018 amateur draft from California State University, Long Beach. He made his pro debut that same year with the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League and was promoted to the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League after 37 games. In 67 games between the two teams, he put up a slash line of .357/.394/.516 that made him a man to watch in the minor leagues. He continued to do well in 2019 as he dominated the Carolina League during the first half of the season, hitting .397 in 50 games and scoring 49 runs. He was a mid-season All-Star and was selected to play in the 2019 Futures Game. Given that he had hit the cover off the ball at every level so far, the Red Sox then sent him to AA on June 3rd. While he found the going a bit tougher - not surprisingly given this was barely a year after he had been drafted in the middle rounds, he still held his own with a .250 average in 82 games for the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League. His combined line was .303/.367/.408 in 132 games, with 90 runs scored and 46 stolen bases. He played in the Arizona Fall League after the season and was selected to play in its Rising Stars Game, as he continued to impress.

With there being no 2020 Minor League season, Duran had to turn elsewhere to develop. He ended up joining the Criollos de Caguas for the 2020-21 Puerto Rico Baseball League season. Duran lead the eventual champs (who finished with an 18-4 record combined between the regular season and postseason) with 14 runs scored while also posting the club's second best totals in steals (6) and walks (12). He really took off in the 2021 Caribbean Series, slashing .400/.500/.640 with 10 runs produced. He made the event's All-Star team, joining MLB vets Melky Cabrera and Juan Lagares in the outfield.

Starting in center for Team USA in the Americas Olympic Qualifier, he hit .368/.400/.526 though he made two errors in eight chances. He helped the US qualify for the Tokyo Olympics (by which time Duran was in the majors), forming a 1-2 punch atop the lineup with Luke Williams. He tied Juan Francisco, Erisbel Arruebarruena and Gustavo Núñez for 8th in the event with 7 hits.

Duran made his major league debut for the Red Sox on July 17, 2021, against the New York Yankees. He went 1 for 6 with a walk in his first two games, then on July 19th, facing the Toronto Blue Jays at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, NY, he hit a two-run homer off Ross Stripling as the second batter of the game, teeing off a six-run inning as the Red Sox won the game, 13-4. He hit .215 in 33 games with an OPS+ of 53. In 2023, he again split his season between AAA and the majors. In 68 games for the Worcester Red Sox, he hit .283 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs, also scoring 49 runs and stealing 18 bases in 21 attempts. In Boston, he hit .221 in 58 games, improving his OPS+ to 78, but still well below the promise he showed in the minors.

He became a major league regular in 2023 when he played 102 games for Boston, playing both center field and left field. He improved his batting average to .295, with 46 runs, 8 homers and 40 RBIs; he also stole 24 bases in 26 attempts and his OPS+ was 122, making him one of the players the Sox would build on moving forward. In 2024, he was splitting time almost 50/50 between center field and left field, but was almost always the team's lead-off hitter. In mid-June, he was leading the American League in both at-bats and triples. His speed was on display on June 7th when he stole home for the second time that year, after no one had pulled off the feat for the team since 2016, and the last time it had been done twice by one player was in 1975. In this case, he took off for home plate in order to derail an attempt by the Chicago White Sox to make an appeal play at first base, when he seemed to have failed to touch the bag when he tried to beat a comebacker to pitcher Garrett Crochet; Crochet ended up throwing the ball to right field and Duran made it all the way to third, but Duran's only chance of nullifying the appeal was to steal home as Crochet made his appeal throw to first base - and it worked, distracting the Pale Hose enough that they botched the appeal play while he crossed home plate safely. He was named to play in the 2024 All-Star Game, which took place on July 16th at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, and he won the Ted Williams Award as the MVP of the AL's 5-3 win over the NL; his two-run homer off Hunter Greene in the 5th inning gave the junior circuit its margin of victory.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Ian Browne: "New-look Duran leading MLB outfield pack", mlb.com, May 9, 2024. [1]
  • Cole Jacobson: "The stealth All-Star candidate who's making a living going the other way", mlb.com, June 27, 2024. [2]
  • Jake Rill: "Duran's decisive homer puts him among Boston's All-Star MVP greats: 27-year-old outfielder slugs Red Sox's first Midsummer Classic jack since 2011", mlb.com, July 17, 2024. [3]

Related Sites[edit]

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