MINNEAPOLIS – There was a time a few weeks ago when Jarren Duran’s name was becoming increasingly popular on the trade rumor mill.
After all, the Red Sox, following the promotion of top prospect Roman Anthony in June, had an overflow of talented young outfielders.
When Duran mashed a Statcast-projected 446-foot homer off the facade in right field at Target Field on Tuesday night, the chances of him being dealt by Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline seemed about as far gone as the distance of his 10th dinger of the season.
In addition to the home run, Duran added a double, a walk and a stolen base to help the Red Sox to an 8-5 victory in the team’s penultimate game before the much-anticipated Deadline. While many expect that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will acquire a starting pitcher, it’s highly unlikely a new rotation member will come at the expense of Duran.
“He’s such a catalyst for our offense,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. “He brings a spark. He can do it a lot of different ways. But when he's slugging like that, it's a different ballgame. He changes our team big time. So we know that's in there. And, yeah, it's fun to watch.”
After an inconsistent start following his breakout 2024, Duran has come on over the past few weeks.
In fact, Tuesday marked the one-month anniversary of when Duran started resembling the breakout player who was named the Most Valuable Player of last season’s All-Star Game.
From June 29-July 29, Duran has a slash line of .298/.404/.667 with eight doubles, four triples, five homers and 18 RBIs.
“The last month, if you look at it, it’s a [1.071 OPS], he’s getting on base, hitting the ball all over the place. He’s in a good spot,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
Duran is trying not to overthink his recent reversal of fortune.
“Just feeling good. There's not much else to say,” Duran said. “I'm just trying to stay with what I'm doing. It feels pretty good right now.”
Duran’s success is having an obvious impact on the Red Sox (58-51), who are in possession of the second American League Wild Card spot and within striking distance (five games) of the East-leading Blue Jays, giving the team visions of playing playoff baseball for the first time since 2021. It was a far cry from earlier in the season, when Duran and the Red Sox were trying to find their way back to .500.
“I always feel good [about the team]. We’re such a good team,” said Duran. “I know we take our bumps and bruises, but we have so many young guys. Sometimes I forget that Carlos Narváez is a rookie because he carries himself so well. And honestly, Roman, what he's doing is insane. He's 21 years old.”
It seems like such a short time ago that Duran was one of the young guys. But the 28-year-old helps support Alex Bregman and Story as veteran leaders.
Boston’s chances of participating in October and playing well once they get there would certainly be enhanced by the presence of a productive Duran, who was moved to the No. 3 spot in the batting order on Sunday so Anthony could bat leadoff.
Cora’s thinking with the lineup switch? To give Duran more room to be aggressive on the bases when not hitting in front of Bregman and Anthony. The 1-2-3 combo of Anthony-Bregman-Duran is proving to be a dynamic trio. And Story, who homered and doubled for a three-RBI night, demonstrated what he can do batting cleanup.
“We like this lineup. We really do,” said Cora. “I think the 1-2-3 is the same one as a week ago, but in a different order, and it feels really good.”
For Duran, the homer against Twins reliever Michael Tonkin was the longest of his career. Typically, Duran sprints out of the box even when he goes deep.
But he got to take at least a little enjoyment from this one.
“I knew I got it, but I didn’t really pimp it,” Duran said. “I just kind of watched it a little bit, but that was one of the rare occasions where I felt like I actually got it.”
Duran got it all right – just like he has gotten his groove back over the past month.
The Red Sox look forward to seeing how far that can take them.