The Boston Red Sox have been hovering around .500 all season and have been riddled with the injury bug all season losing Trevor Story, Lucas Giolito, and Garrett Whitlock for the season. They’ve also lost Rafael Devers, Brayan Bello, Masataka Yoshida, and Tyler O’Neill for some time during the season, they’re also without Chris Martin, Triston Casas, Wilyer Abreu, Romy Gonzalez, and Vaughn Grissom right now. They have brought in players to try to figure out the holes left due to injuries with names such as Dominic Smith, their current first baseman, and Garrett Cooper, designated for assignment last week. It’s been a mix-and-match effort this season. However, even with that, this team is still above .500 and currently in the conversation for an American League Wild Card spot as they currently sit 2.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins for the sixth and final seed entering play today. They’ve had some great play from players that weren’t expected with Ceddanne Rafaela turning into his own as he currently leads the team in RBI as well as leading all rookies, David Hamilton has been a pleasant surprise as of late as he’s been a nice piece at shortstop for the Red Sox lately. Still, there’s one name who has made a name for himself and is becoming a star as well as being advocated for to be an All-Star and that is Jarren Duran.
Duran this season has played in all 73 games for the Red Sox, he has a slash line of .277/.346/.463 with a .810 OPS, a 123 wRC+, and is a 2.9 WAR; he has 21 doubles, ten triples, five home runs, 31 RBI, 49 runs scored, 30 walks, and 17 stolen bases. Duran hasn’t been doing it with the power, but he wreaks havoc when he is on base, and he can turn a walk into a triple in the blink of an eye. Just for instance here’s how he ranks right now in stats.
Duran Rankings
WAR: 2.9 (11th in MLB. 6th in AL)
Doubles: 21 (4th in MLB. 2nd in AL)
Triples: 10 (1st in MLB)
Runs: 49 (T-12th in MLB. 7th in AL)
Stolen Bases: 17 (9th in MLB. T-5th in AL)
Boston Red Sox League Rankings
Doubles: 131 (5th in MLB. 2nd in AL)
Triples: 21 (1st in MLB)
Runs: 339 (9th in MLB. 5th in AL)
Stolen Bases: 69 (5th in MLB. 1st in AL)
Duran broke out last season playing in 102 games before a foot injury derailed his season, he hit .295 with a .828 OPS, a 120 wRC+, and was a 2.5 WAR; he had 34 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 40 RBI, 46 runs scored, 24 stolen bases, and 24 walks. That season though doesn’t compare to this season, in 29 fewer games he has 13 fewer doubles, he has eight more triples, three fewer home runs, nine fewer RBI, three more runs scored, seven fewer stolen bases, and six more walks. The secret is he has to stay healthy, and he makes the Red Sox better and a lot more fun to watch. Duran should be an All-Star in 2024 and that case is open and closed, get him to Texas for the Midsummer Classic and if you aren’t talking about Duran, it’s time you start doing so just like Triston Casas did over the weekend anytime, he was on the mic in that Yankees series.
