FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jarren Duran climbed mountains in 2024.
The Red Sox outfielder’s breakout season included being a finalist for Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, All-MLB Second Team honors, and his first All-Star Game, where he was named MVP. He led all major leaguers in plate appearances, at-bats, doubles, and triples.
And for his next trick, he’s going to try and outdo himself.
“I’m always working to get better,” Duran said on Thursday. “There’s always a higher ceiling that you can reach.”
Duran is now considered one of Boston’s star players, but complacency is impossible for him. He’s motivated by the things he didn’t do, and can be exceedingly hard on himself. Several teammates have described him as the hardest worker on the roster.
“I wish I could switch my mindset,” he said with a wistful smile, “but my mindset still is kind of going about it like I can’t go like I’ve earned anything yet, like I’ve still got to prove myself.”
“There’s always that extra hit I could’ve got, or that extra base I could’ve stole,” he said.
Duran is exacting, but he said he’s not alone in the assessment. He works closely with Kyle Hudson, the team’s third-base coach and outfield instructor, and said ‘Huddy’ also thinks he can “get better.”
A key area of focus for Duran will be taking ownership of left-field. With Trevor Story set to return to shortstop, the Red Sox plan to move Ceddanne Rafaela back to center-field. Splitting time between left and center, Duran proved himself to be one of the best outfield defenders in the game. His numbers were stronger in center, but that just means a new mountain to climb.
“I’ll move over for anybody as long as we get the best players that are out there for us,” he said. “I’m more than comfortable moving over there for Ceddanne to win a Gold Glove in centerfield.”
Even if it means mastering Fenway Park’s tricky outfield dimensions, which have bedeviled outfielders for over a century. “We have the weirdest left field in the game,” he said of the Green Monster.
It helps that Duran is able to start spring training on the right foot, literally. Season-ending surgery for turf toe in August ‘23 impacted his offseason and spring training routines, and by the end of last season, his legs were feeling the effects.
Avoiding an arbitration hearing helps, too. He and the Red Sox agreed to terms after the deadline, but “everything was really smooth,” he said. “I thought it went really good.”
With that out of the way Duran was able to come into camp focused on the game he loves.
“I feel really good (about the team),” he said. “I’m always excited. I go into every year like, ecstatic about what we can do.”
That the rest of the baseball world doesn’t feel the same way doesn’t bother him. More motivation, another mountain.
“I always love to be the underdog,” he said. “I know there’s always people counting us out, and I just can’t wait to prove people wrong.”
He hopes to do so in all 162 games. He started 160 of 162 games last season, but Alex Cora hopes the roster will be strong enough to allow for some more rest days this year.
Not if Duran has anything to say about it, though.
“I would love to go 162,” he said. “I know I can talk him into letting me play 162.”
Originally Published: