Adam Duvall Felt ‘Most Dialed In’ During First Week With Red Sox

The offseason addition of outfielder Adam Duvall didn’t take very long to pay off for the Boston Red Sox.

Duvall, who missed nearly half of last season with the Atlanta Braves due to a wrist injury, was red-hot out the gate to begin his Boston tenure. The 34-year-old recorded two home runs, three doubles and a triple through his first three games in a Red Sox uniform, quickly making franchise history as the leader in extra-base hits in that debut span with Boston.

He also compiled a slash line of .455/.514/.1.030 in eight total games played this season, going 15-for-33 with four home runs while striking out just five times, which Duvall refers to as the best stretch he could recall from his 10-year career in the big leagues.

“I’ve had crazy hot stretches before but that was the most dialed in and locked in I’ve been,” Duvall said, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “Not just getting hits or hitting homers, it was more so the things that I was doing at the plate as far as swinging at the pitches I wanted to swing at and taking the pitches that were just off the plate. I got to a different place that first week. That’s probably the best stretch that I’ve had.”

Since Duvall went down on the 60-day injured list with a left distal radius fracture, his presence in the lineup has been missed. He’s since begun his rehab process, getting swings as the designated hitter in Triple-A Worcester’s lineup on Tuesday night.

The Red Sox are hitting just .235/.297/.368 over the last 15 days, which ranks 20th among all teams in Major League Baseball. Through that same stretch, Boston has driven in 37 runs (37th in MLB) and totaled 88 base hits (25th). That dip in offensive production has also proven to be costly.

Boston fell dead last in the American League East (28-27) after having lost seven of its last nine games before Thursday night’s series finale with the Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park.