Red Sox manager Alex Cora went on the record that Jarren Duran would be the leadoff hitter in Boston this season.
Hearing the vote of confidence from Cora, Duran remained humble and focused on his role in the Red Sox’s upcoming season, according to the Boston Herald’s Gabrielle Starr.
“That’s awesome to hear, but I just can’t be satisfied still,” Duran said, according to Starr. “I’m still gonna come out here like I don’t have a job … that’s just not how I’m wired or raised to take anything for granted.”
Duran routinely stretched singles into doubles in the leadoff spot before undergoing season-ending toe surgery last August.
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“Obviously, we need him healthy out there every day,” Cora told reporters at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, per team-provided video. “If he’s healthy, that’s my guy.”
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Duran is coming off a season where he slashed .295/.346/.482 with 98 hits, 34 doubles, and eight home runs, to go along with the 24 stolen bases at the time of his injury. At leadoff last year, he slashed .319/.356/.567 with five home runs, 16 doubles and two triples, according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Tyler Milliken.
The speedy outfielder hasn’t appeared to have altered his attitude from last fall regarding a guaranteed roster spot.
“You can’t go into spring like you have a spot. That’s when you get satisfied,” Durran told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey in September. “You gotta go in like, ‘I gotta earn my spot’ every time. That’s just my mentality. I gotta earn my creed here. Just because I had one good year, that’s nothing.”
