Jarren Duran’s Red Sox teammates have heard the left fielder’s brutal self-descriptions all year: the claim that he’s the worst player in baseball, the idea that he’s an impediment to the team’s success.
Typically, they will listen and try to guide their teammate back to solid footing, reminding him of his game-changing abilities and the fact that even in a down year, he’s accomplished things beyond the reach of most. But over the weekend in Baltimore, the Sox attempted a pair of novel interventions on the weekend of Duran’s 30th birthday.
The first: A new look. Prior to Sunday’s game, reliever Greg Weissert and outfielders Eli White and Wilyer Abreu convinced Duran to get a buzz cut. Before Monday’s contest back at Fenway Park against the Angels, Duran added to the experiment, dying his hair blond.
“They kind of cornered me and said, ‘Hey, man, you’ve got to change it up. Let’s cut your hair.’ Peer pressure was strong with those ones. They trapped me and got me,” Duran said with a smirk after the Sox’ 5-2 victory. “I’m so hard on myself, so it was kind of nice to worry about people seeing my hair more than [being worried about] the game today.”
The second was more serious. Trevor Story has lockered next to Duran for years and accepted the role of reassuring sounding board. But in Baltimore, as Duran berated himself amid a 2-for-23 (.087/.125/.087) stretch to start the month, Story struck a different tone.
“[Story] finally heard it enough in Baltimore. He’s like, ‘Dude, that’s enough. All this negative self-talk, you’re just making it a reality instead of [saying] if I talk positive, then positive outcomes will come,’” Duran recounted. “I’m very thankful for [teammates] always keeping me positive, and reminding me of how good I can be.”
On Monday, Duran offered his own reminder against the Angels, going 2 for 4 while kickstarting the offense with a solo homer (his 20th) in the second inning and adding a double in the fifth. It was Duran’s first game with multiple extra-base hits since May 20.
His .204 average, .259 on-base percentage, and .365 slugging mark remain among the worst in baseball and drastically short of his career norms. Yet even against a landscape of struggles, there’s plenty of evidence of an ability to take over games.
“He’s hard on himself and it’s not what he’s wanted, but there’s still a lot of production,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “Not every year is going to go exactly how you want it to. You kind of look up there and glance, and … [he’s got a] chance at 20/20 and a very legitimate chance with a good couple of weeks of having 80-plus RBI.”
The best version of the Sox is one where the team benefits from Duran’s multidimensional upside. To try to achieve it, the team has been willing to endure troughs while remaining committed to Duran as a lineup regular.
Could that change when Willson Contreras returns from the injured list, with Mickey Gasper potentially getting more time at designated hitter, thus moving Roman Anthony to left field? Perhaps.
Still, the Sox don’t want to retreat from what Duran can be. And despite his unsparing self-critiques, Duran has remained mindful that a better on-field version of himself remains within reach.
“That’s the thing that’s been bugging me all year. I’ve been so close all year, and I just haven’t been able to click. … It’s just the most frustrating thing, but it’s baseball,” said Duran. “I know I can do better than what I’m doing, and it’s the littlest details that literally keep me in a cage till 1 a.m. or have me taking a bat home, and I’m doing dry swings and looking in the mirror and watching video till, like, 4 a.m.”
Against that backdrop, perhaps a change of perspective can be freeing: a birthday (“I did wake up a little sore that day,” Duran said), a new hairstyle, or a reminder from teammates that Duran (two steals away from his second 20/20 season) is still impacting games, or perhaps most importantly, a suggestion that the baseball calendar is about to reset with the Sox increasingly certain to be in the postseason field.
Veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been in Duran’s ear regularly, encouraging him to look forward rather than dwelling on what has transpired.
“[Kiner-Falefa] is like, ‘Let’s just get hot and get you rolling into [the playoffs].’ That’s kind of helped me [say], ‘Who cares about the numbers this year?’” relayed Duran. “He’s like, ‘Just keep it simple and just have fun and think about getting to that next [stretch] of the season.’”
The Sox are hopeful that the best version of Duran will help spearhead their October push.
“He’s a game-changer,” said catcher Connor Wong. “As bad as the year is that he feels like he’s having, teams still have to prepare for him and take him seriously because he’s such a threat not only at the plate but on the bases when he gets on. He’s very dynamic. He plays a great left field. He’s a key part of who we are as a team, our mind-set, and what we do. So, him being him is really important for us.”
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.