'Game changer' Duran bounces back vs. Seattle

BOSTON -- The early innings of an important game for the Red Sox were unkind to Jarren Duran on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

In the bottom of the first inning, even as the Sox scored four runs against tough Mariners righty Luis Castillo, Duran struck out on three pitches. Two innings later, though Duran worked an impressive nine-pitch at-bat, he struck out again.

And in the top of the fourth, when Nick Pivetta was losing the 4-0 lead his team had built, Duran sold out for a diving catch in center but whiffed on it, allowing Teoscar Hernández a two-run triple instead of an RBI double.

Last year, when moments like those piled up for Duran, the snowball became too big for him to dig out of. But the 2023 version of Duran is fully capable of getting off the mat in short order, and that’s exactly what he did, helping the Red Sox to a 9-4 victory over Seattle at Fenway that ended a four-game losing streak.

“It’s baseball,” Duran said. “I punched out the first two at-bats, and I was like, ‘Flush it.’ But thinking about my boys, thinking about my guys, it's not all about me. So when I missed that play, I was like, ‘All right, Nicky’s gonna punch out the next guy and we're gonna get out of this and then we’ll go score more runs.’ I was just thinking about my teammates, and just trying to do the best I can.”

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Duran got even with Castillo, belting a first-pitch slider over Boston’s bullpen and into the bleachers in right-center that stretched the lead to 7-4. The blast was scorched at an exit velocity of 109.2 mph and traveled a Statcast projected distance of 417 feet. That’s a pretty good show of clout for a player known more for his speed than power.

“I saw nine pitches [in the previous at-bat], so I was like, ‘I've kind of seen everything he's got.’” said Duran. “I was just staying with my approach and he just happened to leave me a slider right down the middle and I put a good swing on it.”

Duran had another good swing in him in the seventh, when he looped an RBI single into center for more insurance. It made the tougher moments earlier in the game a distant memory, though Duran admits the missed catch stung in real time.

“That was a tough play, but I gotta make that play for Nicky P,” said Duran. “[Outfield instructor Kyle Hudson] has been talking about making plays for our pitchers in tough, crucial moments. That was a play I could have picked him up on, but I had [Alex Verdugo] and everybody telling me that, ‘Hey, man, that's a tough play, I'd rather you go after that 100 percent every time, like, don't be scared, you’ve got to play aggressive.’ So it was nice to know they had my back.”

The evolution of Duran has been one of the best early-season stories for the Red Sox. Duran has been open in interviews about how his struggles on the field led to mental health issues last season.

This season, Duran has often credited the support of his teammates for his improved resilience. But Duran has done a lot of work on and off the field to turn himself into the player people thought he was going to be a couple of years ago. He has a big fan in manager Alex Cora.

“Oh, he’s great,” said Cora. “For everything that he has talked about, and he’s been very open about it, you care about him, not only on the field, but off the field. This kid, he went to Puerto Rico in the middle of the pandemic just to keep working on his craft. We were able to connect and I'm very proud of him.”

After not making the team in Spring Training, Duran was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on April 17 and has been a standout performer. In 27 games and 94 at-bats, Duran has a line of .351/.406/.585 with three homers and 18 RBIs. He is 7-for-7 in stolen bases.

“He's a game changer,” said Red Sox DH Justin Turner. “He's got power, he's got speed, uses the whole field and plays great defense in center. So it's good to see him having success, hitting the ball all over the place and running the bases.”