The Red Sox week in review dives into Jarren Duran, Tanner Houck, and the new City Connect unis.
Throw it back to last week’s Monday Morning Brushback, when we were all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed (well, more so than we were now seven days later). A major theme I centered the piece about was the gut check nature of the Red Sox’s upcoming stretch of games. The likes of the Tigers, Braves, and Mets all loomed ahead after Boston faced, at least on paper, the weakest strength of schedule across MLB.
Specifically, I said this:
Regardless of what’s happened so far this season, the Red Sox have a golden opportunity to carpe the hell out of some diems starting today.
Carpe those diems they did not, by and large. What should’ve been a series victory in Detroit was ultimately a sweep at the hands of the Motor City Kitties on account of a pair of back-breaking walkoffs. What could’ve been a strong start to a home stand against Atlanta on Friday ended with multiple free outs given to the opposition thanks to baserunning errors and a late game stinker from the bullpen. The record in close games continues to be a sore spot. Saturday night’s comeback was electric, of course, but it represented just one game in a season that hasn’t gone the way we had hoped thus far.
Bleh. Maybe I’ll just the article there, with a bleh. Unfortunately, I’ll probably get my Vox password revoked if I do that, so we’ve gotta dissect the week that was.
It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.
More Jarren Talk
Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images
I try to spread out the topics of the MMBB so that I’m not discussing the same three things each and every time. Outfielder Jarren Duran’s “controlled chaos,” in my own words, was brought up a few weeks ago following his daring steal of home plate in Cleveland, but I think he’s worth mentioning again.
Ever since I gave Duran that shout out on April 28, he’s cooled off at the plate. Through Saturday, his triple slash in May stood at .227/.250/.364 for a .614 OPS—not something you want to see out of your leadoff hitter. In that time, I can tell you anecdotally speaking (admittedly) that some fans online (which, of course, is indicative of EVERYTHING when we talk about the wider conversation regarding this team!) have begun to ponder what to do with number 16.
Bench him? Put him in a platoon? Shit, even trade him? I’m not going to name names, but I’m sure you’ve seen or heard similar murmurs.
Considering the fact that the top prospect in baseball—Roman Anthony, who is also an outfielder—is just twiddling his thumbs in Worcester as I type this, I get the desire to have him slotted into the lineup for some extra juice on offense.
But make no mistake: you’ve got a better chance of picking up a turd by the clean end than you do of seeing manager Alex Cora moving Duran out of the full-time leadoff slot. It’s not happening, and we can stop contemplating that scenario. The speed and the upside that Duran is something Cora has valued for years now.
I know that Jarren Duran has gotten off to a relatively slow start; after posting an OPS of around .830 in both 2023 and 2024, that mark is about 100 points lower so far in 2025. You know who else had a slow start through the end of May last season, though?
Jarren Duran.
Duran’s OPS through May’s end in 2024 stood at .744; not poor, but not All-Star Game MVP levels. Two weeks later, he got it back up over .800 and it never dipped below that threshold again for the rest of the year. How quickly we forget.
I’m not suggesting that Duran is going to become a damn-near 9 bWAR player again all of a sudden. I’m just saying that the pendulum was swung far too severely in one direction here. We’ve already seen signs of improvement, folks! The triple on Friday, the homer to get the remontada going on Saturday, the game-tying knock that same night—those are just a few examples in recent days.
Yes, I’m excited for Roman Anthony’s major league career to begin. Yes, I’ve been encouraged by Ceddanne Rafaela thus far; I just wrote about that last week. But let’s not dismiss Duran out of hand just yet, especially when he’s not going anywhere any time soon.
Houck’s Out
Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images
Just when maybe we thought things were getting better for Tanner Houck after he gave up double-digit runs in under three innings last month…………..he gave up double-digit runs in under three innings this past week.
Following Houck’s disastrous start to begin the series in Detroit, he was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strain in his right flexor pronator (which, apparently, is in the forearm—I learned something today!).
It’s probably for the best that he takes some time to get right before rejoining the big club in whatever role he’s slotted into. since there’s no promise that he’s going to go right back into the rotation considering his ERA is juuuust north of 8.00 in 43.2 innings this year. Dan Secatore gave a pretty apt summary of his struggles the other day right here on OTM, though the plain ol’ ERA number does say a lot.
It’s really been a collection of concerns for Houck in 2025, with these developments doing no favors in getting the bad taste of his 2024 second half out of our mouths. The strikeout rate’s down. The walk rate’s up. The hard hit rate’s up. The sweeper has gone from providing a pitch value of 6 last year to -5 this year, while the splitter’s fall off has been from 12 (!!!!) to -4 in that same time. He’s not fooled as many hitters—he’s gone from the 78th percentile in chase rate in 2024 to the 60th—and his overall whiff rate continues to be in the bottom 25% league wide. Even his groundball rate—the 49% metric that represents the one red spot on his Savant page checking in at the 76th percentile—is down from 55.5% and the 93rd percentile last year.
Frankly, I’m not smart enough to break down exactly what the problem (or problems) are with Houck’s approach. It makes me feel better that Cora didn’t specifically know following his most recent blow-up either. Chris Cotillo of The Mexican Times MassLive wrote:
Monday’s showing, however, leaves open the question of if the Red Sox will let him take his next turn in the rotation.
“We’ll talk about it, of course…,” said manager Alex Cora. “I’ve got to take a look at the video and we’ve got to see what we’re gonna do. Right now, it’s too fresh. It’s too quick. We have to take a look at it and see if it’s mechanical, usage, or where we’re at.”
Houck seems confused, too, since he was quoted in that same article as calling this period as, “Probably the most lost (he’s) ever been.”
All of a sudden, we’re back to having major question marks about this rotation. Houck’s going to be on the shelf, Brayan Bello had a bad day on Sunday in the finale against Atlanta, and Lucas Giolito has been taking one step forward and one step back.
Save us, Walker Buehler…
Dressed to the Nines
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
The new Red Sox City Connect jerseys were officially unveiled on Friday, and they’re spectacular.
I really dig these, folks. We’re 2/2 on City Connect. Thank goodness they didn’t go with green pants. I think the only tweak I’d make is using the batting practice hats as the primaries worn in-game (here for reference; not a brand sponsored link, I promise I’m not on Fanatics’ payroll), but the green hats aren’t too bad.
If you’ve kept up with OTM this week, you’d know that Dan Secatore called these new jawns a “lazy disappointment.”
While I don’t agree with that overall conclusion, Dan did make some good points in that article. The beauty of a program like the City Connect initiative (I’m making it sound like a fuckin’ Marvel movie…) is that it can shine a light on a city’s complexities—a point that’s supported by the 2021 edition of the Red Sox City Connect jerseys, as Dan pointed out.
Well, thankfully, we still get that representation included in the team’s regular rotation of uniforms. That appreciation hasn’t gone away with the rollout of the Fenway greens. The nods to our area’s vibrancy lives on, much to the chagrin of all of the navy blue jersey enjoyers out there (the Nike 4+1 rule for uniforms suckssssss by the way). The yellow jerseys can continue to embody plenty of the aspects that make this place home for us, similar to what Dan outlined this week. That celebration can continue, as the first era City Connect sets have been widely accepted (your mileage may vary, of course, but by-and-large people seem to like ‘em; just look at any crowd shot from Fenway and you’ll see that’s the case).
The meaning behind those first jerseys can still live in harmony with the meaning of these new City Connects, though. Fenway Park has become the meeting place for people of all ages and backgrounds: for those who live and die with this team or for those just going for their first time, for people who have lived here for decades or for those just passing through, it all happens at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark (obstructed views and all). Our stadium is undoubtedly an icon of the city; Chicago’s probably the only other city you can say that about. It’s embedded so deep into the fabric of Boston that it is one of the establishing pictures you see when you go to the city’s Wikipedia page—with the Monster in view! We’re lucky to have our own yard…….wait for it……connected to the city itself.
I get Dan’s point about the difference between the Boston that Hollywood would want you to envision and the Boston that actually exists, but Fenway’s status as that icon coexists in both of those worlds. It’s one of the area’s defining landmarks for people from outside of 495 and far beyond, but the real people who frequent Fenway give the park its life. You could say it was a simple inspiration for a uniform, but that’s because it just works. Peanut butter and chocolate is a simple combination, but that just works too.
So, it’s wonderful that both the yellows and the Fenway greens are going to be in the rotation! They both give nods to our home in their own way—a celebration of our community’s vibrancy and a celebration of our community’s home base—and I think that’s pretty neat.
By the way: just as I promised that I wasn’t on Fanatics’ payroll, I’m also not a part of John Henry’s PR team after I gushed about the meaning of Fenway just now (I know it sounds corny when at the end of the day the team just wants to make money alongside Nike/MLB/Fanatics). If they want to increase the community feeling of Fenway even more they’d make it less prohibitive to get in money-wise, but that’s a different conversation for a different day.
Song of the Week: “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” by Mac DeMarco
Nice lil’ riff on this one.
Same time and same place next week, friends! Go Sox.