Trevor Story’s injury sure has put the Boston Red Sox in distress.
Mostly in the middle of the diamond, with the Red Sox having to find replacements now that they’re without their shortstop and second base starters from last season.
Utility man Christian Arroyo could cover up the hole at second base with Story on the Shelf, while the Red Sox could theoretically move Kiké Hernández from midfield to shortstop, where he has big-league experience, including 10 appearances in the all-important spot in the past year.
But that still leaves a spot open in the outfield, and the Red Sox scrapped the idea at Wednesday’s Rafael Devers press conference that they could turn to Jarren Duran, coming from a much-maligned campaign, to help out the to fill gap.
“We haven’t talked about Jarren in a while,” Red Sox executives said Alex Cora to reporters, according to Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe. “But I think where we are right now it would be good for him to step up and play good baseball and be the player that we envisioned a few years ago.”
Duran showed brief flashes of his skills during his second season in the big leagues but struggled a lot in 2022. The 2018 Red Sox seventh-round draft pick batted .221 with three homers and 17 RBIs, plus seven steals in 58 games.
Duran’s play on the field certainly wasn’t any better, including an embarrassing mishap when the Toronto Blue Jays put up 28 runs against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.