Can Jarren Duran provide a boost to the Red Sox lineup?
Can Jarren Duran provide a boost to the Red Sox lineup?
Duran will eventually get another opportunity and will look to seize it and never look back
The Red Sox are sitting at 9-14 as they head into a three game series with the Angels from Fenway Park. Boston is looking to turn their misfortunes around at the plate. However the Red Sox offense has been terrible to begin the year.
The Red Sox offense ranks towards the bottom of the league in almost every statistical category. Boston ranks 20th in batting average (.229), 29th in walks (52), 26th in on-base percentage (.279), 25th in home runs (13) and 23rd in runs (81).
“The bottom line is we’ve got to swing the bats,” said manager Alex Cora during the Orioles series. “We had a horrible month in April. We didn’t do our job.”
The Red Sox need to shake up the roster in order to get some production in the lineup. The club recently called up left-handed hitting Franchy Cordero, who is 1-7 with one RBI to begin his 2022 season. While Cordero has only taken nine at-bats, he is not the long term answer for the lineup.
The long term answer is Triston Casas, but he is not on the verge of joining the big league club. However, the Red Sox need a boost in the lineup, particularly in the outfield. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom should look to call up outfielder Jarren Duran.
The 25-year-old could provide an upgrade at the plate over Jackie Bradley Jr. The left-handed hitting Bradley Jr. has only managed 10 hits in 68 at-bats this season. He is hitting a frail .147 with no homers and five RBIs. Bradley Jr. is only slashing .227/.206/.433 in 22 games and those numbers are not going to cut it for a team already struggling at the plate.
Duran didn’t impress at the big league level last season. As a rookie he spent 33 days in Boston, slashing .215/.241/.336 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 112 plate appearances.
This season, Duran is performing at a high level at the plate for Triple-A Worcester. He is batting .360 with a .458 on-base percentage, .560 slugging percentage and 1.018 OPS in 13 games.
If promoted to the major league roster, Duran could provide a much needed spark. Cora commented that Duran is focusing on hitting line drives and using his speed. Something he failed to do while he was with the Red Sox last season.
“That’s something we talk about in spring training and he didn’t hit too many fly balls,” Cora said. “I think last year and the year before when was in Pawtucket, I think he took the whole drive-the-ball to the next level. He hit a lot of fly balls. And from what I hear in Worcester early on, the ball to right field carries a lot.”
If Duran is going to be successful he is going to need cut down on striking out at the plate. This season Duran has a 22.4% strikeout rate with the WooSox.
The most important thing for Duran is that he has fun again during his time in the majors. Last season he lost his way and wasn’t having fun. Duran’s energy, speed and power will be welcomed to the Red Sox lineup. Cora needs another consistent bat, Duran will have a chance to seize this opportunity and never look back.
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