Red Sox manager Alex Cora is hopeful Monday morning's elevation of Jarren Duran will help Boston in a few different ways.
Duran, who started the season with Triple-A Worcester after being one of Boston's final Opening Day roster cuts, returned to the major league club as the Red Sox optioned Bobby Dalbec back to Triple-A. Cora said how he's liked what he's seen from Duran of recent and hopes the outfielder will add depth in the grass, aid in Boston's defensive versatility and give the team more speed on the bases.
"Just where we're at, you know, schedule-wise and roster-wise," Cora told reporters Monday before Boston's series finale against the Los Angeles Angels, as seen on NESN's pregame coverage. "It's kind of like mix-and-match. We felt Jarren did a good job in spring training, made some adjustments and it'll be good for him to come here and get him in the mix.
"Hopefully he can get on base and put pressure on the opposition," Cora continued. "I think the game kind of molds to his speed right now so hopefully we can take advantage of it."
Cora said Duran will play both center and left field, platooning with Raimel Tapia. Boston has some outfield depth with Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo in their respective corner spots and Rob Refsynder playing plenty in center, as well. The addition of Duran should mean Kiké Hernández can play more shortstop, where he'll be the majority of the time when the Red Sox face right-handed pitchers. Hernández recently spent time in the outfield when Dalbec was in Boston given the latter played the infield.
"But with him, it'll be interesting," Cora said of Duran. "We'll play him, but we got Tapia, too. So we'll look for matchups and see how we can maximize the whole thing. But we feel like where he's at offensively with his hands, it should translate."
Cora acknowledged one specific improvement with Duran in the batter's box. The Red Sox manager believes he's developed the ability to take more pitches and better his pitch selection.
During his 11 games in Triple-A Worcester, Duran recorded five extra-base hits with two home runs and benefitted from 10 walks in his 51 plate appearances. In 335 plate appearances for the Red Sox over the last two seasons, Duran's hit .219 with 103 strikeouts compared to 18 walks.
