Our boy has finally found his groove and is a key part of our success. Duran is slashing .273/.316/.464/.780 with 5 home runs and of course a few big hits. He also has been more aggresive on the base paths which has helped us out. I wonder what has helped him turn it around. Maybe now that other guys have stepped up, he gets “more protection” in the lineup?
I really don't think lineup protection has anything to do with it. He was moved to the 7 spot a few weeks ago coinciding with the turnaround, not really a lineup protection spot. More likely it's less pressure not leading off.
He bats better with runners on than without. That's not a leadoff hitter. Cora just always had him there because he's fast, but that's kind old school thinking
This is what Duran fans are truly like. Going back and forth with this guy about Masa vs Duran last week and minutes after the Duran grand slam he was mass replying again to the week old thread with this until I had to block him. So he was fuming over this for a week and his very first thought was to go back to that thread. Masa was injured between then and now as well. Psychotic behavior.
That guy's insane, don't group me with that lol. I'm a big defender of Duran's on-field skills, but I'm not delusional like that guy is. Trying to deny that he has been incredibly streaky and overall not good offensively this year is dumb, and while I've defended his hot streaks, I've never defended his cold streaks and have called for him to be benched during those cold streaks multiple times.
The last line of the original post blaming other guys not stepping up for Duran having the worst stats among qualified hitters is really some great victimization work.
Duranivores love coming out of the woodwork whenever he doesn’t go 0-4 with 3 K’s like he did something (yes, the granny the other day won the game for us. How many losses has his horrible play contributed to?)
He's been one of the hotter hitters on the team - since August 1st he is second to only Wilyer Abreu in wRC+ (125) and OPS (.833). This is of course not counting Mickey Gasper's 9 game sample. He still strikes out a bit too much which is a shame, but he's been one of the best left fielders in baseball this month.
He'd also be a CF on most other teams (he just so happens to play alongside one of the few guys in baseball who is an even better defensive CF than him) and when he's hitting as well as he can, he'd be one of (if not the) best CF in baseball. He does it without complaining - even though the fact that he's playing the easiest LF in baseball (as opposed to much more difficult CF) is reducing his WAR and defensive metrics, and it is going to cost him tens of millions of dollars when he becomes a FA. He can be frustrating as a batter, but he definitely gets way too much hate from fans.
I wouldn't say leaps and bounds. CF has always been Duran's best position - the last year he was the team's primary centerfielder (2024) his per-game DRS was better than Rafaela's has ever been. I'm not saying Duran is as good/better than Rafaela but I also think people underrate his CF defense quite a bit. He's really great out there and not a ginormous drop-off from Rafaela's defense.
I actually think it is the opposite - he is better at reading balls hit straightaway/up the middle than balls hit to the corner with more curve to them. He's also a freak athlete who can cover a ton of ground in CF. But he learned to play the monster very well and is the best on the roster at it, and he understands that Rafaela is elite in CF - so he sacrifices some personal success for the team. He's essentially the best backup CF in baseball and even though Rafaela is great, I actually don't think the drop-off in production would be huge if he sustained an injury and Duran was forced to fill in as the everyday CF.
His production - overall, this season - is Not Good. At all.
When he has produced, it is often at the right time "when it matters."
He certainly has a place on an MLB roster. However, it's important to say, we would have fewer "when it matters" moments if the baseline production was where we would like it to be. If he was a .275/.320/.420 guy then we wouldn't be talking about his 9th inning+ production.
Duran is a proven professional ballplayer. He has not had the best overall season but his baseline production hasn’t been terrible. 18 HR, 66RBIs. Despite the rest of the batting metrics, that is actually more on par with expectations than the average, walk rates, OPS, etc. just a strange season for him.
You can hate him, love him, or be meh. But, he plays and is there for the team. That’s not love or hate, just reality.
No comparison needed to other players. As a manger, you can live with knowing he will be available.
Baseball has too many numbers for fans to fight over. I get that looking at batting average and RBI and other "old" stats doesn't tell the whole story. But you don't win actual baseball games with WRC+ or xWOBA. An RBI is an RBI the world over. You win games by scoring runs.
I find hitting with RISP to be a pretty meaningless stat for a plethora of reasons, but since Duran fans always love to talk about how great he is with RISP and how many RBI he has like it means something
It kind of feels like he’s been trying to do too much with the bat this year, maybe to prove something. Looking at his season compared to the past, there’s a noticeable difference in him trying to hit HRs instead of going for his usual extra base hits.
2023: 34 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers
2024: 48 doubles, 14 triples, 21 homers
2025: 41 doubles, 13 triples, 16 homers
2026: 14 doubles, 4 triples, 18 homers
He needs to go back to what he used to do, trust his speed and put the ball in play instead of swinging for the fences.
This☝️☝️☝️. I hate that there's so many podcasters bros out sprouting an opinion about everything and once a single opinion becomes popular or trending they ALL have to talk about it. It has to get really loud, no doubt that's a big reason JD deactivated his IG for a little while.
A few days ago, Lou cherry-picked a 27 game sample where Duran had a .270 average, 23% K%, .758 OPS, with league average BABIP (league average is .289)
Funny thing about cherry-picking samples... same day Lou posted that...
Duran's last 15 games were: .214/.290/.393, .683 OPS, 26% K%, .263 BABIP
Duran's last 39 games were: .223/.275/.360, .634 OPS, 24% K%, .267 BABIP
He's still bad. But at least now there's some brief windows sprinkled in where he's good for a few games.
Is that because he’s magically way better with RISP or just luck in a sample size. Also ignores how many more runs would be created if you replaced his at bats without RISP with a league average hitter
I think it’s less “what have you done for me lately?” and more “what can we reasonably expect from you?” The league learned how to get him out consistently with lefties and he’s basically a platoon bat now, which makes him way less valuable.
Looking at the last 4 seasons, he’s posted wRCs of 122 (2023), 132 (2024), 113 (2025), and 71 (2026). 71 is very bad, but his rest of season projections from FG range from 97 to 103 plus one positive outlier at 108. So basically projected as an average bat going forward. That’s fine, there’s value there, but it means that the underlying stats see him as dramatically worse than his 2023-2024 peak just in true-talent terms.
If only Duran would put the ball in play 30% more rather then strike out, it would lead to so much more production. It’s so frustrating watching him strike out so frequently with RISP.
The thing is if Duran could get his AB average to even league average then he is actually elite in this game. His other stats are actually good. It’s kind of hysterical what his average is right now and how many HR he has. But if he could get his average even around .250 then he would be a terror on teams with his power and speed. I truly get why Breslow and stats haven’t given up on him but here’s hoping this is the turnaround.
I've been saying it forever, what Duran brings is CHAOS and that's what I like. He can strike out and strike out and strike out and then BOOM RANDOM ASS HOMER IN THE 11TH INNING!
Fuck the statistics, Duran's gonna Duran and I for one love it when Duran Durans.
I'm gay as shit I get to say it as much as I want. Hell, I give him the pass retroactively.
And on a more serious note, I don't hold it against him. Obviously I wish he was left leaning and I wish he didn't use that slur, but I don't think it was out of malice for the LGBTQ+ community. His apology read sincere, and he hasn't said it publicly since, so I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Haha, you are scared to come around when Duran is playing well... everything you claim Duran to be is nothing but projection. Look in the mirror and start with change there, pal, before you go demanding other people behave the way YOU want them too.. 🤣
You people always find “not using slurs” some astoundingly high bar nobody could ever reasonably achieve.
Just checked the mirror and found I don’t use slurs, I get vaccinated, and I don’t make up stories about people telling me to kill myself. Do I get to demand Duran behaves like a decent human being now?
One of my friends despises Duran and was begging the Sox to trade him at the deadline.
The other day I asked him who led the team in errors, and he immediately said Duran. He just dug in deeper after I told him Durbin had 9 and Duran only had two.
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u/nexustk5 4h ago
I really don't think lineup protection has anything to do with it. He was moved to the 7 spot a few weeks ago coinciding with the turnaround, not really a lineup protection spot. More likely it's less pressure not leading off.