Boston Red Sox star ‘all over the place’ at plate

TAMPA — Red Sox leadoff hitter Jarren Duran is struggling like many of his teammates.

The 2024 All-Star went 1-for-4 with a single and one strikeout in Boston’s 16-1 loss to the Rays here Monday at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The 28-year-old left-handed hitter is 17-for-74 (.230) with a .284 on-base percentage, .297 slugging percentage, .581 OPS and just four extra-base hits (three doubles, one triple) in 81 plate appearances.

It’s very early but Duran is on pace for just 36 extra-base hits. He led the majors with 48 doubles last year and tied for the major league lead in triples (14). He finished with 83 extra-base hits, 16 more than any other Red Sox hitter in 2024.

For the Red Sox offense to get going, Duran must get going.

“All over the place,” manager Alex Cora said when asked about Duran’s at-bats before Monday’s game. “Sometimes patient, sometimes too aggressive. He’s getting into swing mode in certain at-bats and swinging and missing a lot. That’s the reality of it.”

Duran is hitting the ball hard when he makes contact (93.1 mph average exit velocity, 50.9% hard hit percentage) and his bat speed (74.1) is in the 84th percentile among major league hitters, per Statcast.

But he’s in the 43rd percentile among major league hitters in whiff percentage (26.6%) and 36th percentile in strikeout percentage (24.7%). Both those percentages have increased a bit from 2024 (24.8% whiff rate, 21.8% K rate).

His 31.9% chase rate on pitches outside the zone is up from 28.1% last year.

Cora said Duran needs to slow it down and hit the ball to left-center field like he did on the first road trip.

“He did it in Texas. He did it in Baltimore,” Cora said. “So Hopefully we can accomplish that.”

It’s not just Duran.

The Sox have scored 78 runs in 18 games, an average of 4.3 runs per game. But 31 of those runs (39.7%) came in two games against the Cardinals. Boston has scored 47 runs in its other 16 games, an average of 2.9 runs per game.

Triston Casas has a .523 OPS. Rafael Devers has a .681 OPS. Ceddanne Rafaela has a .551 OPS.

Rafaela, who sat Monday, has just one extra-base hit.

The Red Sox have the eighth worst chase percentage (29.5%) in the majors and Rafaela (46%) has the third worst chase percentage among major league hitters after having the worst last year (46.4%).

“Swinging a lot,” Cora said about Rafaela before Monday’s loss. “It happened towards the end of the homestand. And I think (Sunday) was the perfect example. He got some pitches to hit but he was in swing mode. So try to slow it down. I think that’s the most important thing. Backtrack the ball and hit it the other way. That’ll be something good for him.”