Jarren Duran was the breakout star of the 2024 Boston Red Sox. In 2025, he’s struggling to live up to his new, loftier standard.
Duran had an incredible 8.7 bWAR last season, putting up an .834 OPS, leading Major League Baseball in doubles and triples, and contributing value on defense and on the bases. But so far in 2025, his OPS is down to .678, and he’s hurting the team out of the leadoff spot in the lineup.
As the Red Sox languish at 22-23, there’s an urge to make drastic changes to the lineup and/or roster. One of those changes could be to drop Duran, whose on-base percentage sits at just .298 as of Thursday, down in the order.
On Wednesday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported that according to manager Alex Cora, taking Duran out of the leadoff spot currently isn’t an option the Red Sox are weighing.
“Jarren Duran entered (Wednesday’s) game with a .300 on-base percentage and no walks since April 30,” Abraham wrote. “But Cora said there were no plans to take him out of the leadoff spot.”
During Wednesday’s game, NESN color commentator Will Middlebrooks also relayed that Cora believes Duran’s struggles are at least partially caused by chasing too many pitches outside the strike zone. Duran’s 34.1 percent chase rate, up from 28.1 percent last season, is in the 14th percentile among all qualified hitters.
In the same at-bat Wednesday against reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, a tough left-on-left assignment, Duran chased a 98-mile-per-hour fastball that nearly hit him in the chest, then swung under a 100-mph heater at his eyeballs for the punchout.
The talent is still clearly there, as Duran’s impressive late-April surge showed. However, there’s added pressure on every Red Sox outfielder now that number-one prospect Roman Anthony is lurking in Triple-A, having just turned 21 years old earlier this week.
But the best version of this Red Sox team still exists when Duran is causing chaos at the top of the lineup. Cora is wise not to pull the plug prematurely.
