Jarren Duran wants Red Sox fans to know he’s not happy about his 2022 season, either.
Individually and collectively, Boston Red Sox they have underperformed and disappointed almost all season.
Jarren Duran is no exception. He hasn’t been able to make the jump effectively from Triple-A, where he hit .293/.363/.503 with 23 extra-base hits in 46 games, to the big leagues, where he hit a lowly .220. /.283/.365 with 20 XBH in 57 games before being optioned earlier this month.
Duran’s plate discipline actually improved significantly since his rookie season last year. His strikeout rate dropped from 35.7% to 28.8% and he nearly doubled his walk rate. Still, the Sox need more from him and he hasn’t been able to provide. His problems with the plate, combined with defensive deficiencies, led to his demotion to the minors.
The 25-year-old is painfully aware that he hasn’t been good enough. He would be shocking if he wasn’t, given how vocal Sox fans and the media have been. But before he was sent to Triple-A Worcester, Duran did something many athletes don’t: he opened on how it feels to be an underachiever in front of the world:
“It’s been pretty tough. I can’t talk much about it, but I’ve been pretty low this year. It’s been a struggle staying here (in the majors).
I try very hard to please everyone, so when I hear people talking badly about me and it’s our local fans, I take it seriously. It’s like, ‘Dang, I need to try harder because I’m just trying to make everyone happy.’ It is very difficult. It’s a (game of failure), a (sport of failure). I just apologize every time I don’t do what I’m asked to do. I’m doing my best. I just hope they know.
I’m tearing myself up inside and getting pretty depressed and stuff like that. I find it hard to get close to people because I don’t want to bother other people with my problems. I just build it up inside of me, which obviously makes everything that much worse.”
Duran isn’t the first AL East player to speak out about the toll that difficulties in the game are taking on his mental health. The fanbases and media of certain teams are tougher and more intense than the rest. In Boston and New York, athletes are under a microscope, and if they don’t perform to high standards, the reaction is often brutal. Before the trade deadline of August 2, Joey Gallo Revealed how much his collapse with the New York Yankees impacted his life, calling it his “least touch.”
“I don’t go out… I really don’t want to show my face around here much.
I went through a lot of adversity and I really had to question myself a lot. My confidence suffered. I would say I hit rock bottom in the big leagues. So for me, I was just trying to remember to be a good teammate, play the game the right way, play the game hard, and not do something stupid that I regret. I learned a lot about myself, I guess. Baseball is a difficult game. But it definitely made me stronger because not a lot of people have been through what I’ve been through.”
Baseball is a business that players choose to get into. But could you do your job with thousands if not millions of people watching you and criticizing your every move?
Duran does not shy away from or refute the criticism that he recognizes he deserves. And it’s not like he’s not trying to get it right. No baseball player gets this far without hard work and dedication. People around him say he puts up with it.”at a higher level than anyone else.And anyone who’s seen him play when he’s doing well has gotten an idea of the player he could be for the Red Sox if they could find a way to unlock him and tap into his natural ability.
At the end of the day, these athletes are human beings. We often lose sight of it. Hopefully players who continue to express how the game affects their mental health will make things better.
