Duran getting up to speed
But expectations could be daunting for early star in camp
When Jarren Duran turns around, that’s when the real game begins.
For a 24-year-old who hadn’t played the outfield with any regularity until his 21st birthday, putting your back to the play while chasing down a wellstruck fly ball and then readjusting to make the catch is a big challenge.
It happened Saturday, when Duran made a good read on a blast headed straight for the center-field wall at JetBlue Park. Duran turned around and used his elite sprint speed to get to the spot, but couldn’t readjust quickly enough to have a chance at making a catch.
In reality, it would’ve taken a Gold Glove center fielder, Jackie Bradley Jr. perhaps, to have a play on that ball, which bounced off the wall, rolled far away from Duran and turned into a triple for Twins infielder JT Riddle. But it also served as a reminder that as excited as the Red Sox are about Duran, he still has developing to do.
“It’s still a transition,” said Duran, a natural second baseman who switched to the outfield in 2018. “But I think with Tom Goodwin and some of the other outfield coordinators, I’ve been getting better every day.”
The hardest part for him? Making a play on a ball just like
the one hit by Riddle on Saturday.
“Probably going back on the ball, just putting my head down and running,” he said. “In the infield, you don’t really take your eye off the ball even if you’re going for a fly ball that much. Taking my head off the ball and learning to trust myself on my routes to the ball is kind of my big thing right now.”
The Red Sox know Duran will take time to get comfortable in center, but they trust his instincts and work ethic, and with onceevery-decade speed aiding him, there’s hope Duran can turn into a quality defender.
The hard part will be controlling expectations.
When he does get his first big league call-up — likely to be later this year after he begins the season in Triple-A Worcester — he’ll be replacing a legendary defender in center field at Fenway Park.
“Jackie was a good role model and he was an amazing player here, but I can’t control what people want from me,” Duran said. “So I think just going out and doing the best that I can do is really all I can do. Just do what I can do. I can’t really try to mimic somebody who’s as great as him. Just trying to do what I need to do for myself is the goal.”
His manager hasn’t taken it easy on him with expectations, either.
Alex Cora has endorsed the Grady Sizemore comparison he heard from a reporter while Duran was playing in Puerto Rico over the winter.
They’re both 6-foot-2 and just over 200 pounds. With matching chiseled jaws, they look like they could be brothers. They both hit left-handed. They both have speed. And while neither was a firstround draft pick (Sizemore was a third-rounder and Duran a seventh-rounder), they both dealt with prospect hype before they ever arrived in the big leagues.
Being compared to Sizemore is “kind of a big deal,” Duran said.
“But I try not to compare myself to guys like that,” he said. “They’ve done so many great things and I haven’t done anything yet … I feel like I need to work my way to get compared to some of those guys.”
Asked if he had a chip on his shoulder from being a seventh-round draft choice, Duran shook his head.
“No, not really,” he said. “I would’ve gone to play for a plane ticket wherever they wanted me to go play. But I think I still have a chip on my shoulder for being a small guy. I grew up like 5-foot- 6 in high school, undersized in every way. I still have that aspect of, ‘I need to work harder than everybody to catch up to them because I’m smaller than them.’ I still carry that around on my shoulders.”
Duran is getting regular playing time in center this spring, even if it’s unlikely he starts the year with the big league club. He’s already hit two homers, including one in a moment when Cora thought he’d drop a bunt down the third-base line and use his speed for an infield single.
But Duran has confidence in his swing and developing power, despite hitting just five homers in his last full minor league season.
“The power just came with my swing change, with my path and my direction,” he said. “It just allowed me to be more free. I don’t think I’m really trying to hit home runs or swing for power. I think it’s just my natural swing that allows me to get more lift.”
There’s still plenty of growing to do.
“Honestly, I go out and just try to enjoy every moment,” he said. “I’m not trying to make anything too big or trying to think too much or anything. I’m just trying to go out and have fun.”