𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

FORT MYERS, Fla. — If Jarren Duran’s performance in the World Baseball Classic is any indication of how he’ll produce during the regular season, the Boston Red Sox offense might be better than its preseason projections.

On a Red Sox roster that features questions about its power, Duran has the potential to be the team’s greatest X-factor. A season that closer resembles his MVP-caliber 2024 campaign would be an obvious boon for the lineup, and Duran spent the offseason trying to return to that level of performance.

On the international stage, while playing for Team Mexico this month, he’s looked more like the 8.7 bWAR player he was in 2024, tying Vinnie Pasquantino for most home runs in pool play (three), two of which came in the same game on Monday off of Team USA’s left-handed pitchers.

And for the THIRD time in TWO nights, it’s Jarren!

[image or embed]

— Red Sox (@redsox.com) March 9, 2026 at 8:01 PM

Even before Duran began tearing it up for Team Mexico, his spring was off to a hot start. In five Grapefruit League games before he left for tournament play, Duran hit .583 with a 2.167 OPS. Five of his seven hits went for extra bases, including more three homers. Two of those homers also came off lefties, including one off Braves ace Chris Sale.

It’s a decidedly small sample, but a good sign nevertheless for the Red Sox.

Duran set nearly impossible expectations for himself entering last season, coming off a year in which he hit .285 with an .834 OPS, 21 homers, 48 doubles and 14 triples along with 34 stolen bases in 160 games. He finished eighth in the American League MVP voting.

All of that made his solid 2025 campaign look like a regression to the mean rather than a slight step backward. Duran hit .256 with a .774 OPS, 16 homers, 41 doubles, 13 triples and 24 stolen bases in 157 games.

“When you’re an eight-win player and you’re getting down-ballot MVP votes, anything short of that could be considered a failure,” Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse said. “But he’s a high-impact guy, and this spurt we’re seeing now is not only what I think he can be, but kind of who he is. And it’s just our job to keep the focus and keep things moving forward.”

Duran spent the offseason near his home in the Los Angeles area working with Red Sox hitting-strategy coach Joe Cronin to refine his approach at the plate. Fatse and Cronin identified opportunities for Duran to be more aggressive in certain parts of the zone to specific parts of the field.

Hitting off a machine in a cage, Duran worked on seeing different angles and pitch shapes, honing his swing decisions in various counts and visualizing at-bats in scenarios with runners on base.

“A lot of it is decision-related for him,” Fatse said. “He hits the ball hard when he’s managing at-bats in the strike zone and taking aggressive or convicted swings before two strikes. He’s very dangerous. Our whole focus is just, how do we channel that every day in the work and then channel it versus lefties, versus righties, versus different shapes and give him very specific outcomes we’re looking for, and then give him the feedback.”

Last season, Duran’s chase rate increased to 31.1 percent from 28.1 percent in 2024, and he struggled particularly against offspeed pitches with a whiff rate of 36.5 percent compared to 25 percent the previous season.

Part of Duran’s maturation as a hitter has been studying the game on a deeper level. It’s something he started to do more last season under the direction of former teammate Alex Bregman, whose locker was directly next to his. Duran, so focused on perfecting his own techniques, can forget to simplify things. Bregman often reminded him that hitting is not so complicated.

“Pitchers are creatures of habit. They’re falling into tendencies and doing certain things in certain situations and counts,” Duran said. “And (Bregman) really brought that to light.”

Employing that mindset for his game-planning and preparation has helped Duran become a more confident hitter entering this year, something Fatse saw even in December when he flew out to California to visit with Duran.

“I think when he has that level of confidence, when he is in control of the at-bat and he’s dictating the aggressiveness, this is the type of player he can be,” Fatse said.

Confidence has always been elusive for Duran, but being a bit more discerning at the plate will help. In two-strike counts last year, Duran hit just .162 with a .491 OPS. When he’s displayed more patience, it’s paid off. Last season, when he swung at the first pitch, he posted a .670 OPS compared to an .808 OPS when taking the first pitch.

Duran’s swing decisions will carry increased importance this season as he’s expected to hit third in a lineup that features Roman Anthony at leadoff and Trevor Story in the two-hole with Willson Contreras in the cleanup spot.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora likes the left-right-left-right mix of that configuration, but Duran also produced well last season with men on base (.906 OPS) and with runners in scoring position (.878 OPS).

Cora plans to have Duran split time with Anthony between designated hitter and left field, but Fatse believes Duran’s approach at the plate will remain the same regardless of whether he’s playing in the field or not.

“I don’t foresee any positional change taking away from what we’re going to accomplish offensively,” Fatse said. “It’s more about making the mindset: What pitch are you looking for? What are you hunting? What are you trying to do to the pitch? And attack then it.”

Duran’s speed, too, should play well in the three-hole ahead of Contreras. Earlier this spring, before heading out to the WBC, Duran quipped that he’d be the fastest DH in the league.

“He’s a guy that can turn a single into a double, a double into a triple,” Fatse said. “He can extend bases. I think the other team, you see when he puts a ball in the outfield on the ground, teams have to come up and they’re checking if he’s going to second (on a would-be single). It’s just that type of pressure, that constant pressure. So I just think that presence is big for us.”

The last time Duran played in the WBC for Team Mexico in 2023, he wasn’t even a full-time player with the Red Sox and began the year in Triple A, called up shortly after an injury to outfielder Adam Duvall. It marked the last time Duran spent time in the minors.

This time around, Duran has put up one of the best performances in the tournament. Despite interest from teams across the league in Duran, the Red Sox chose not to trade him this offseason. Duran said he ignored the trade rumors. Even so, he’s trying to prove them right.

“This is the player that we think he can be,” Fatse said. “Obviously, he is an impact, dynamic offensive player, hits the ball very hard and can do a lot of things.”