Jarren Duran wants to play 162 games this season; Alex Cora may give him more rest
Red Sox manager Alex Cora had planned on outfielder Jarren Duran playing all 162 games last season. He ended up playing in 160 games due to being suspended by the team for two games in August for the use of a homophobic slur.
It doesn’t sound like Cora is planning on playing Duran for all 162 games this coming season, but the All-Star MVP will try and convince his manager into changing his mind.
“I would love to play 162, but AC’s is like, ‘Oh, we’ll probably give you a little bit more rest this year,‘” Duran said at JetBlue Park on Thursday. “But I know I can talk him into letting me play 162. So we’ll see what he says.”
Duran had a breakout season, finishing eighth in AL MVP voting, and he led the bigs with 48 doubles and was tied for the major league lead with 14 triples. The speedy outfielder also recorded the fifth-best fWAR in the American League, trailing only the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Royals’ Bobby Witt, former Yankee’ Juan Soto, and Orioles superstar Gunnar Henderson.
Duran’s larger workload started to beat him up as the season progressed, and he saw his numbers dip in September. One aspect of Duran’s game is his ability to utilize his speed both on the bases and in the outfield. He felt his legs begin to feel tired as the season wore on.
“I just think my legs were tired because I didn’t get to train my legs the whole offseason because I had the boot. I was working on the toe rehab,” Duran said. “But I was able to do leg workouts ... all offseason. So I think it would be a little easier this year to do it honestly.”
The California native is preparing for his fifth big league season and is a more accomplished player than in years past. Duran enters the season with an All-Star game appearance, an All-Star game MVP award, and a top-ten MVP finish.
