Red Sox Skipper Sends Jarren Duran Warning After Yankees Lineup Change

Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Sends Jarren Duran Message After Benching

Cora will be looking to avoid similar offensive droughts as the series goes on, but it seems like he won’t be moving outfielder Jarren Duran back into the lineup against the left-handed Fried.

Duran was moved to the bench for Tuesday’s game with Yankees right-hander Luis Gil getting the start, but he’s typically worse against southpaws. On Tuesday, Cora sent a warning about Duran’s recent at-bats as he detailed the decision to move him out of the starting lineup.

"Chasing pitches, early on he was taking walks and now he’s chasing, we've got to make sure we swing at the right ones,” Cora said of Duran, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “As a group we did a good job (on Monday), controlling the strike zone, putting the ball in play. We just got to keep continuing to do that."

MORE FROM FORBESBlue Jays’ Rising Star Sends Phillies’ Bryce Harper Message As Concerns MountBy Peter Chawaga

Boston Red Sox Could Look To Cut Ties With Jarren Duran This Season

Duran, who earned an All-Star bid during a breakout 2024 campaign with the Red Sox, has struggled mightily to start this latest season. He is slashing just .162/.240/.250 as the team shuffles through several other outfield and designated hitter options in Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Masataka Yoshida.

Ultimately, the struggles and that surplus could motivate the Red Sox to cut ties with Duran, particularly if he’s unable to adjust his at-bats following the manager’s warning about his penchant to chase.

“The Red Sox can't afford to keep Duran on the bench much longer and preserve any of his trade value, and it's a risky game to play to wait for an injury to happen to open up more consistent at-bats,” Jackson Roberts wrote for On SI. “Either Duran needs to heat up and take over his at-bats that are going to Masataka Yoshida right now, or Boston has to finally make a move it's seemingly been dreading.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com