FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The projected Red Sox starting outfield includes two definites and one maybe, and none of them are Jarren Duran.
What some might see as a fall from grace for last year's red-hot prospect could actually be an opportunity.
Duran spent the winter sculpting an already impressive physique, adding 10 pounds of muscle. But more importantly, he hung with college buddies from Long Beach who engaged in a nonstop barrage of bleep-talking and chops-busting that Duran hopes to carry back into the Red Sox clubhouse after a quiet, tentative rookie year that curtailed his energy.
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SIGN UP HERE Adjusting to big league pitching and finding a swing that covers the entire plate will ultimately decide whether he opens the season in Boston or Worcester, but manager Alex Cora believes he'll also benefit from embracing his natural exuberance.
"One thing I told him for this season is we want the energetic kid we see on Instagram and in Worcester," Cora said. "It's part of his equation. It's part of what he does. I think last year he was very careful being himself. One of the things about our club is we don't care. Just do whatever you have to do to be a good big leaguer and he needs to play with energy."
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To that end, Duran guaranteed Cora that he'd bunt the first pitch leading off Thursday's Grapefruit League opener vs. the Twins. Cora said he'd buy him dinner if he pulled it off. Duran squared for the first pitch, but circumstances didn't cooperate.
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"I could tell the third baseman was playing in, so I was like, 'This guy is screwing up my plan,'" Duran said. "So I was looking to go to the first base side because that guy was giving me that all day. But he threw it away, threw an outside pitch and I was like, 'I can't do that -- I'll bunt it right back to the pitcher.' Maybe he'll give me dinner just for trying it."
That would be a negative. "It saved me money," Cora said. But it helped that Duran followed by utilizing another neglected tool, beating out an infield single with his impressive speed before scoring on Bobby Dalbec's two-run homer in a 14-1 victory.
That performance provided a glimpse into the kind of player Duran used to be, and still could be. He didn't develop power until reaching the upper levels of the minor leagues, and his approach may have suffered for it. Cora noted that whereas last year's batting practice sessions were power displays almost exclusively to the pull side, Duran now uses BP to spray balls between left- and right-center.
He's so strong that power should remain a part of his game, but it needn't be his focus, especially after a debut that saw him hit just .215 with two homers in 33 games.
That limited production has dropped Duran on the outfield depth chart. It's possible -- likely, even -- that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom swings a deal for an outfielder in the next couple of weeks, making Duran's path to the roster much more difficult if he's not part of a trade. But as things stand now, Duran and Jackie Bradley are the two likeliest candidates to start in right field, with Kiké Hernández in center and Alex Verdugo in left.
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Duran's bat will determine his place, but freeing his personality could put him in a better position to succeed.
"In the big leagues, it just felt like more instead of taking it as, 'This is still a game,' I took it as, 'This is the big leagues and I have to be smarter,'" Duran said. "I can't play with my hair on fire like I did in Worcester. I can't scream and yell at my teammates.' But I can do that. They want me to. I just made it way bigger than it needed to be."
Returning home gave Duran the perspective he needed.
"We talked so much (expletive) to each other and I was like, 'I miss this,'" Duran said. "I miss doing this, just chirping with the guys, having fun. I was like, 'Wow, this is what it was like when I was younger, why aren't I still doing this?' It was eye-opening to hang with the young guys and mess around, talking (expletive), having fun. It opened my eyes again that these guys are enjoying it and I'm taking it like a job. Why am I doing that? I should just go out and have fun."
It might just be the key to winning a spot on the Opening Day roster.