The Boston Red Sox headed into Sunday’s series finale against the Kansas City Royals with more than a rain delay to manage.
While first pitch at Fenway Park was pushed back to 3:05 p.m., the club revealed a lineup that again left Jarren Duran on the bench against a left-handed starter.
Interim manager Chad Tracy stacked the order with right-handed bats to face Royals lefty Noah Cameron. Nate Eaton started in center field in Duran’s place, and newly activated Willson Contreras slotted in at first base and hit cleanup.
The previous two nights Duran had manned center, but the matchup and his recent form prompted the same cautious approach Tracy has used before.
That approach has become familiar. Duran sat against Yankees left-handers Luis Gil in April and Carlos Rodón in late June after a 3-for-37 slump, and he was held out again on September 8 against Angels lefty Reid Detmers, one night after hitting his 20th home run of the year.
The pattern is consistent: when a lefty is on the mound and Duran is struggling, he watches from the dugout.
The rest of his 2026 season has offered little reason to change course. Duran has appeared in roughly 138 games and collected nearly 577 plate appearances, filling center field while Ceddanne Rafaela and Eli White remain sidelined. Yet he has batted just .205 with a .624 OPS and 160 strikeouts.
His strikeout rate has climbed above 27 percent, and FanGraphs has him around a 67 wRC+. September has been especially quiet; he entered the finale hitting .184 for the month after a brief early-month power surge.
Those numbers represent a sharp fall from his 2024 All-Star campaign and have fueled questions about his future in Boston. The Red Sox kept him through the July 31 trade deadline despite reports they were open to moving him.
That choice now looks more like a temporary holding pattern than a long-term commitment. Duran is viewed by many to be one of the MLB’s top offseason trade candidates, as Roman Anthony, Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu already give the club outfield options if healthy.
He is earning $7.7 million in his second arbitration year and remains under club control through 2028, so his trade value has not collapsed.
Speed, defense, and occasional power still appeal to teams looking for a left-handed bat.
Whether Boston packages him this winter to upgrade another position remains an open question.
For now, the immediate decision was straightforward: against another lefty, Duran sat while the Red Sox tried to take the series.
