Nothing seemed to be going right for Jarren Duran in 2022.
The Boston Red Sox outfielder struggled mightily — from his defensive miscue on the inside-the-park grand slam against the Toronto Blue Jays and other plays during the season to getting into it with Kansas City Royals fans. Plus Duran couldn’t get into a groove at the plate, and it began to feel like speed was the only thing going for him.
Duran eventually was optioned to Triple-A Worcester and Red Sox manager Alex Cora was clear about what he wanted the outfielder to work on.
Things seemingly turned around for Duran in spring training when he was in the batting cage when Dustin Pedroia approached him. In a piece published by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Wednesday morning, he detailed what the 2007 Rookie of the Year told Duran.
“Put your hands up like you’re ready to (expletive) hit me,” Pedroia allegedly said, per Rosenthal, who text Pedroia to confirm that was said, to which Pedroia didn’t deny it.
Duran wasn’t going to take what Pedroia said with a grain of salt. After all, the All-Star second baseman knows what it’s like to have an enormous amount of pressure on you and not live up to expectations right away.
“He basically just told me, get your hands up, be athletic, act like you’re going to hit the (expletive) (expletive) out of the ball,” Duran told Rosenthal. “For him to say that to me, I was like, ‘Hell yeah. I’m going to buy in.'”
And buy in he did.
Duran earned a call up to the Red Sox in April and has made a case to be a mainstay in the lineup.
But it wasn’t an easy road for Duran to get to where he is. He opened up to MassLive last year about his mental health and how he struggled with the outside noise. Pedroia helped him with that, too.
“I was tired of being so down on myself,” Duran told Rosenthal. “I looked in the mirror and said, ‘All right, it’s time to either be happy or go down this road of being sad and negative and depressed all the time. And then Pedroia yelled at me. It hyped me up even more.”
Sometimes all you need is someone to get you out of your funk and help you see your potential. It’s paid dividends for Duran, who’s batting .360 with 13 RBIs, five stolen bases and 12 runs scored.
Duran will look to keep the hot streak going Wednesday night when the Red Sox wrap up their two-game series against the Atlanta Braves. First pitch from Truist Park is set for 7:20 p.m. ET on NESN.
