BALTIMORE — Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran has struggled during August, going 15-for-71 (.211) with a .345 on-base percentage, .324 slugging percentage and .669 OPS in 20 games. He has just one home run and five doubles.
His slump comes after an impressive July when he recorded a 1.094 OPS and 17 extra-base hits in 95 plate appearances.
“Chasing pitches down in the zone,” manager Alex Cora said Monday before Boston’s game against the Orioles. “He did miss some good pitches yesterday (against the Yankees) when we put pressure on them.”
Duran has had an inconsistent season overall with a .762 OPS in March/April, a .697 OPS in May and .701 OPS in June.
The 28-year-old is in the 88th percentile in average exit velocity (92.1 mph) and 86th percentile in bat speed (74.7). But he has a 30.5% chase percentage, ranking in the 30th percentile among major league hitters. He also has a 29.0% whiff percentage, up from 24.8% last year.
“I was just looking in our system and he’s hitting the ball hard,” Cora said. “The expected numbers are good. He’s not chasing as much. Just one of those that — he’ll be OK. Just gotta be patient and he needs to be patient, too.”
Despite a down year, Duran still is third among Red Sox players in fWAR (3.1) behind only Garrett Crochet (5.3) and Alex Bregman (3.5). He led the team in fWAR last year (6.8) when he finished eighth for the AL MVP.
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