Duran made his big league debut after the All-Star break last season but struggled with the Red Sox, hitting .215/.241/.336 with a 35.7 percent strikeout rate – a performance that resulted in his being optioned back to Triple-A in late-August. Though he made a brief return to the big leagues when the Sox were shorthanded due to a COVID outbreak, he did not play in the big leagues in the final month of the regular season.
This year, Duran has been dominating for Triple-A Worcester, hitting .397/.478/.638 with two homers, including one on Thursday, eight extra-base hits, and seven steals in 15 games for the WooSox. There has been no residue of his struggles in 2021.
“He’s a man possessed right now. He’s trying to prove the doubters wrong. That’s his competitive nature. It’s wonderful,” Worcester hitting coach Rich Gedman said this week. “I think what happened is he was embarrassed last time he made it to the big leagues, and he wants to make sure that never happens again. And if he goes up he’s not coming back. That’s how I think he sees it. And I hope he’s right.”
The 25-year-old has redefined himself several times – moving from the infield to the outfield, evolving from a high-average/low-power hitter to a slugger with swing-and-miss issues in his professional career.
This season, Duran has shown the most balanced approach of his career. In the early stages of Worcester’s season, Duran has used his elite speed in the batter’s box (he recently bunted for a hit) and on the bases while also turning on pitches he can drive.
He’s made mechanical adjustments in his pre-pitch setup, identifying a hand position – slightly below the letters – as the pitcher begins his delivery that permits him to begin his swing with a rhythmic movement but without creating so much movement that it renders him vulnerable to swings and misses, especially at the top of the strike zone.
“Everything about him has undergone such transformative change over the last few years and by and large that’s really put him on the map to have a great chance to have a lengthy career,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said recently. “But it’s a lot more change than most guys experience. And so it shouldn’t be a surprise that even an athlete as gifted as he is is going through some adjustments, trying to find exactly the right way to take all of that change, to take the engine that he’s built and really harness it consistently.”
Still, even with Duran’s excellence in Worcester and the struggles of the big league team, the Sox had seemed comfortable with the idea of a more extended run for him in Triple-A.
“The hard part is when your major league club is not playing exactly what the way you’d want them to, we have a couple guys [Duran and Triston Casas] who are doing well, the urge is to bring them up faster,” said Gedman. “But unless somebody gets hurt where they get forced to go up because they’re the next best guy in line, more importantly, the longer they can stay here to keep developing and get better and gain confidence, the easier it’s going to be to transition to the higher level.”
Duran has 350 career plate appearances in Triple-A over the last two years. He’s hitting .400 with a 1.192 OPS against righties and .393 with a .931 OPS against lefties. While it might have been possible for Duran to benefit from more of a foundation in Triple-A – specifically, going through additional series against familiar opponents, allowing for adaptation to game plans of other teams – it’s nearly impossible to imagine a scenario in which Duran could be more locked in prior to a callup.
Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @alexspeier.
