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Alex Cora explained why he benched Jarren Duran for the Red Sox's latest loss to the Yankees
The Boston Red Sox have been one of the most disappointing teams in the majors to begin the 2026 campaign, and that continued on Tuesday night, as they suffered a 4-0 defeat in their first meeting of the year with the New York Yankees. Ahead of this game, fans were quick to note that manager Alex Cora relegated star outfielder Jarren Duran to the bench for this contest.
Cora has had a tough task this year when it comes to juggling the team’s crowded outfield depth chart, and it hasn’t made things easier that pretty much every player at his disposal is struggling. With Cora looking for a spark, he sent Duran to the bench, but the move backfired, as Boston racked up just four hits on the night. After the game, Cora took a second to explain why he opted not to play one of his team’s most explosive players.
Jarren Duran not starting tonight, seems doubtful he would start tomorrow against Max Fried. Alex Cora on his decision-making: “Masa is swinging the bat well, taking his walks, putting together good at bats. It was his turn to play.” Duran? “Chasing pitches, early on he was
Boston’s unbalanced roster has created a slew of problems for Cora beginning this year. Realistically, he has five guys competing for three outfield spots, plus the designated hitter position. Duran is battling for at-bats alongside the likes of Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Masataka Yoshida.
Duran, like pretty much everyone else on the Red Sox, has endured a miserable start to the season. In 18 games, he’s hitting just .162 with one home run and 10 RBIs, which simply isn’t going to cut it. The guy who is primarily losing at-bats to Duran is Yoshida, who has been a bit better during his limited time in the lineup, as he’s hitting .289 with five RBIs through 15 games.
Even with the right-handed Luis Gil on the mound for New York on Tuesday night, Cora opted to give Yoshida the start over the slumping Duran. With the left-handed Max Fried set to take the mound on Wednesday night, it sounds like Duran will be on the bench for the second straight game, with Cora opening up on his thought process after the game.
“Masa is swinging the bat well, taking his walks, putting together good at bats. It was his turn to play,” Cora simply said when speaking to reporters after the game. “(Duran is) chasing pitches, early on he was taking walks and now he’s chasing, we’ve got to make sure we swing at the right ones. As a group we did a good job yesterday, controlling the strike zone, putting the ball in play. We just got to keep continuing to do that.”
GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – AUGUST 23: Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora looks on during the third inning at Fenway Park on August 23, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Red Sox entered the year knowing that their roster was unbalanced, but it’s posing bigger problems than initially expected. Nobody can really get into a rhythm with the lineup shuffling on a nightly basis, but Cora needs to find a way to get as many of his best players involved as possible in order to give them a shot at succeeding.
The situation is simply untenable, and at some point, Boston is going to have to make a move to rebalance its roster. It’s still very early in the season, but Cora and the Red Sox appear to have no answers for their team’s early struggles. The team will attempt to get back in the win column when it squares off against the Yankees for the second game in their ongoing series.
Owen Crisafulli Owen Crisafulli is an Email Newsletter Editor & Breaking News Writer at Heavy Sports. His work has also appeared on ClutchPoints, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, NESN Basketball Network, and FanSided, where he shared his insights on a variety of sports topics primarily surrounding the NFL, NBA, and MLB. More about Owen Crisafulli
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