NEW YORK — Red Sox manager Alex Cora knew Jarren Duran deserved to be an All-Star but he wasn’t 100% certain the outfielder would be selected. He also wasn’t certain about Tanner Houck and Rafael Devers being chosen either.
“I was very nervous the last few days,” Cora said. “You never know how this goes because of the rules. You need somebody from every team. And I feel like the last few days, Jarren has felt it just thinking about it. And I was like, ‘We’ve got a lot of work if this doesn’t go the right way, honestly.’”
Duran made it along with Devers and Houck.
Cora told them during a 4:30 p.m. team meeting. The manager received word they made it this morning.
“I showed up late to the ballpark because I didn’t want people to see me so happy,” Cora said. “So I showed up at like 3.”
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Duran has overcome struggles on the field as well as anxiety and depression off the field to become one of the game’s top outfielders.
“It means a lot. Coming from where I came from, dealing with what I had to deal with, it feels good,” Duran said. “It’s hard to put into words because I haven’t really soaked in the moment that much. But I’m just proud. It’s a proud moment. Proud for me. Proud for the team. Proud for my teammates.”
Duran’s turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable. He batted just .219 with a .269 on-base percentage, .354 slugging percentage and .622 OPS in 91 games (335 plate appearances) in 2021-22 combined.
But as Cora pointed out, Duran has always worked hard. Cora first saw that hard work when Duran played for the manager’s hometown team, Caguas, in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the 2020-21 offseason.
“I saw him back home. Lockdown country. No fans,” Cora said. “You go from the apartment to the stadium and just play in that environment and he played hard. He struggled but he played hard. And then he went to the Caribbean Series and took off. It hasn’t been easy.”
The speedy Duran leads all major leaguers with 10 triples. He’s the first American League player ever to have 100 hits, 20 steals, 10 triples and 10 homers before the All-Star break. José Reyes is the only other player to ever accomplish the feat, having done it with the Mets in 2008.
“I don’t really know how to put it into words right now,” Duran said. ‘For me, it’s obviously a great accomplishment. I have great coaches, great teammates like these two (Devers and Houck) next to me and so many people supporting me. I’m just very thankful right now.”
Cora mentioned being impressed watching Houck make his first major league start in Miami vs. the Marlins in 2020. Cora was at home watching it on TV because he was serving a year-long suspension for being involved in the Astros’ 2017 illegal sign stealing scandal.
“Just the presence on the mound and what he’s become,” Cora said. “Like I told them, this guy’s so consistent at what he does when he pitches.”
Cora said the organization is “very proud of all of them.”
“Raffy, shoot, 1,000 (career) hits and he’s only (27),” Cora said. “He’s acting like the guy that we envisioned. And it’s been awesome. It’s been a great day for us.”
Cora said this All-Star team meeting had a different feel.
“Honestly, there have been some special moments in this day but today it looked very genuine, very transparent,” Cora said. “Not that it didn’t happen in the past but it was like established guys (in the past) that made it to the game. Here, the established one is only 27 and he’s awesome. And then the other two, they earned it, which is awesome. I think the fan voting is the fan voting and I think they did a good job with that. But to be selected by your peers, it means a lot. It’s not that somebody got hurt. They earned the right to go because their peers understood that yeah, they deserved to be there. So that makes it very special.”
