It’s hard not to wonder if there’s some competition brewing in the Red Sox’ outfield.
On Day 3 of pitchers and catchers getting to work down at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Sox manager Alex Cora gave some high praise for outfield prospect Jarren Duran, comparing him to Jacoby Ellsbury and Grady Sizemore while revealing that the seventh-round pick from 2018 will get consistent playing time in spring training.
When comparing Duran to other big leaguers, “I always talk about Jacoby,” Cora said. “But (ESPN Deportes reporter) Enrique Rojas during the Caribbean Series mentioned Grady Sizemore and I was like, ‘whoa,’ because Grady was stronger. That’s a good one.”
There’s one position on the Sox’ roster that’s noticeably thin: center field.
While they’ve maintained that they’re still hoping for a reunion with Jackie Bradley Jr., the Scott Boras client is unlikely to sign for a salary that can fit into the Sox’ small gap remaining under the luxury tax threshold, roughly $5.5 million.
Asked about Bradley on Saturday, Cora didn’t sound like a manager expecting to get his Gold Glove center fielder back.
“We talk a lot, but we don’t talk baseball,” Cora said. “We don’t talk about his situation. I ask about (his daughter) Emerson and the baby and how they’re doing. He asks about my family. We keep it at that.
“Obviously, he’s a good player. He’s a guy that can help any team in the big leagues to win ballgames. But I think there’s more than just the manager and the player. There’s a relationship and I can keep our conversations with that.”
Meanwhile, Duran is just 24 years old while Bradley turns 31 in April. The Red Sox are a team clearly skewing younger as they look to build toward the future.
Developing young players has been one of the more noticeable themes during Cora’s public comments in the first few days of spring training. He talks about the roster not as if it’s a finished product ready to win a World Series (though he does think they can compete for a playoff spot), but as a roster that still has a lot of room for growth.
“What Chaim and his group are doing to keep getting better is exciting,” Cora said.
While the Sox don’t have a true center fielder on the roster, they have two former Dodgers who spent some time in center while playing in Los Angeles: Alex Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez. Cora likes Hernandez as the regular second baseman. And though he hasn’t said much about Verdugo just yet, the excellent season he had in both corner outfield spots last year will be tough to ignore.
The question is whether or not Duran will be ready to take over in center field immediately or needs more development.
It’s a big risk to insert a prospect into the Opening Day lineup, not just because of inexperience, but because it would start his service time clock a year early. If the Red Sox wait until May or June (it depends how many other teams’ prospects have been called up; the top 22% make up the group known as ‘Super Two’ players who will earn an extra year of arbitration salary), the Sox could save a lot of money on Duran in the future.
They chose to take that risk by starting Bradley on Opening Day in 2013, though he proved to be not yet ready and took two years of back-and-forth big league opportunities until he flourished.
Duran has just 82 games of experience at Double-A and has yet to appear in Triple-A. After the minor league seasons were erased due to the pandemic last year, the only competitive baseball he’s played in the last 16 months was in Puerto Rico this winter.
“One thing I really liked, he didn’t have a great season down there,” Cora said. “He wasn’t great in the regular season. Then in the playoffs, he took off. In the Caribbean Series he kept playing well. But it was good for him to face different pitching.”
The strong first impression was enough for Duran to warrant regular playing time when Grapefruit League games begin next Saturday, Cora said.
“We’ll push him,” the manager said. “Either he starts or he’ll be a backup. He’ll be a guy that will be around us most of the games here because he needs the experience. He’s a good player, still learning the game and he’s willing to learn the game, which is cool. They’ve done an outstanding job here as far as developing him, teaching him the game, doing it the right way. He’ll be a good one for us.”
Cora said he thinks the old rule of thumb that prospects need 1,000 at-bats in the minor leagues before they’re ready for the majors is outdated, through Duran is close, with 802 at-bats over two minor league seasons.
“Competition makes you better,” Cora said. “The lack of competition (for minor leaguers last year), we’ll see how much it’s going to affect these kids.”
"center" - Google News
February 21, 2021 at 05:04AM
https://ift.tt/3bjReYo
Red Sox center field prospect Jarren Duran to get regular playing time this spring - Boston Herald
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Red Sox center field prospect Jarren Duran to get regular playing time this spring - Boston Herald"
Post a Comment