Latest news with #Duran
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Amid trade rumors, Twins chase series win over Red Sox
This is the time of the season when a hug can set off alarm bells. Amid trade rumors, Twins chase series win over Red Sox The Minnesota Twins will try their best to avoid distractions when they face the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon in the teams' final game before the trade deadline. On Tuesday night, Twins closer Jhoan Duran sparked a social-media firestorm when he was spotted giving a hug to the team's bullpen catcher. Fans quickly speculated that the gesture meant that Duran had been told that he was traded. Fans' fears subsided almost as quickly once reports emerged that Duran still was on the Twins and that no trade was imminent. The Twins hope to produce more runs and avoid any ominous dugout embraces when they meet the Red Sox in the decisive contest of a three-game set. Minnesota won the series opener 5-4 on Monday before falling 8-5 on Tuesday. Red Sox manager Alex Cora hopes that his team's offensive production will continue. He praised several of his hitters, including Trevor Story, for their recent approach at the plate. Story will try to stay hot after he went 2-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs on Tuesday night. He has 16 homers and a team-best 64 RBIs on the season. "Solid season," Cora said. "It didn't look that way before we went to Milwaukee, and he turned it around. He's actually one of the best offensive shortstops in the big leagues right now." Jarren Duran has provided a spark, too. The Boston outfielder contributed a double and a homer in the Tuesday win while batting third in the lineup for the third day in a row. "The last month, if you look at it, I think it's like .950 OPS ," Cora said. "He's getting on base. Hitting the ball all over the place. "He's in a good spot. We like this lineup, we really do." Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews will try to subdue Boston's lineup. Matthews is coming off his best start of the season, when he fired six scoreless innings on Friday against the Washington Nationals. He allowed two hits, walked none and struck out seven. Matthews has made one career start against the Red Sox. He gave up one run on two hits in 4 2/3 innings during a no-decision on Sept. 22, 2024. Boston will counter with Brayan Bello . The 26-year-old right- hander will try to avoid a third consecutive defeat after dropping his past two starts to the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In two career starts against Minnesota, Bello is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He didn't get a decision vs. Minnesota on May 2 after permitting one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. The Twins' lineup will not be at full strength after the team placed All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton on the injured list because of soreness in his left ribcage. Carlos Correa also is uncertain for the series finale after leaving the Tuesday game because he felt light-headed. Other players including Jhoan Duran, Joe Ryan, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Danny Coulombe will try to avoid distractions with their names mentioned in trade rumors. Coulombe acknowledged that the next couple days might feature a lot of uncertainty. "It's impossible not to ," the left-handed reliever said. "Your life gets flipped upside down. You're with a different team, new city, new teammates not to mention all the logistical parts for wives and families. It's definitely unsettling." Field Level Media This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New York Post
12 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Twins' Jhoan Duran puts MLB world on hug-watch alert with ultimate fakeout
Jhoan Duran put the baseball world on notice — and made everyone refresh their social media feeds — with one moment of embrace on Tuesday night. The hard-throwing Twins reliever has been at the center of trade deadline rumors and appeared to confirm those suspicions when he was spotted by TV cameras hugging the team's bullpen catcher, Frank Nigro, at Target Field during Minnesota's game against the Red Sox. It quickly sent folks into a frenzy, with people thinking Duran was in a trade to be announced. But this hug watch was a bust — at least for now. Jhoan Duran shared a hug with his Twins bullpen. Not long after the clip went viral, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that Duran had not in fact been traded and that 'he was just hugging his bullpen catcher because that's what friends do sometimes.' With less than 48 hours to go until the deadline arrives, Duran is still a Twin. But with Minnesota at 51-55, they're likely full-on sellers, meaning a reliever such as Duran — who has two more years of team control — is a big prize in this year's market that could fetch the Twins a solid return. Jhoan Duran delivers a pitch during the ninth inning of the Twins' home win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2025. Getty Images One National League scout told The Post's Jon Heyman this week that out of the available relievers on the market, they would rank Duran first on a list of 10 other relievers, which also included the righty's teammate, Griffin Jax. The 27-year-old has been one of the best relievers in baseball since getting called up in 2022, and this year, he holds a 2.01 ERA and 211 ERA+ with 53 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. He's saved 20-plus games the past two seasons and is on pace to do so again with 16 this year.
Newsweek
a day ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
Could Yankees Land Lockdown Twins Closer in 3-Player Blockbuster?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The New York Yankees' bullpen has been a surprising Achilles' heel this season. Not only have the Yankees been one of the more reliable bullpen teams of the last half-decade, but they made a huge trade to add a lockdown closer before the season. Unfortunately, Devin Williams hasn't been his typical self for much of the season, though he's heated up lately. Perhaps the most effective way for the Yankees to re-establish their contender status is to bring in a top closer at the trade deadline to share the high-leverage workload with Williams. DETROIT, MI - JUNE 27: Jhoan Duran #59 of the Minnesota Twins reacts after striking out Parker Meadows of the Detroit Tigers for the final out in a Twins 4-1 win at Comerica Park on... DETROIT, MI - JUNE 27: Jhoan Duran #59 of the Minnesota Twins reacts after striking out Parker Meadows of the Detroit Tigers for the final out in a Twins 4-1 win at Comerica Park on June 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. MoreESPN's Tristan Cockcroft has a name in mind for the Yankees to snag: fireballer Jhoan Durán of the Minnesota Twins. On Tuesday, Cockcroft proposed a mock trade that would bring Durán to New York and send two top prospects, infielder Roc Riggio and right-handed pitcher Carlos Lagrange, to Minnesota. "Acquiring Duran will be costly -- Lagrange has a similarly filthy fastball to Duran's and has been dominating in Double-A (2.35 ERA, 38.8 K% in his past six starts) -- but why not go big when you're a defending league champion in need?" wrote Cockcroft. "Duran, with his 100-mph heater, presents a nice contrast in styles to Williams' Airbender and Weaver's rising fastball. Remember, a dominant bullpen was critical to the Yankees' playoff run last year -- theirs had a 2.67 postseason ERA." Durán, 27, has a 2.01 ERA in 49 appearances this season, striking out 53 batters. He still somehow hasn't been an All-Star in his four big-league seasons, but all he's done is produce, with a 2.47 career ERA. Lagrange would be more valuable in the long run than Durán if he develops into a rotation fixture, but there's still a chance he could be a closer, in which case he'd be hoping for a career trajectory much like Durán's. More MLB: Blue Jays Must Address This 'Urgent' Flaw At Trade Deadline, Says Top MLB Analyst
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Red Sox no longer considering trading former All-Star Game MVP
After much recent speculation, the Boston Red Sox do not appear to be on the brink of trading a young outfielder who finished in the top 10 of American League MVP voting last season. WEEI baseball insider Rob Bradford recently reported that Jarren Duran is no longer on the trade block. "Multiple major league sources have said that the Red Sox are no longer entertaining the idea of trading Jarren Duran, which is an obvious step in the right direction in the eyes of this current clubhouse," Bradford wrote. Duran, 29, is part of a Red Sox logjam in the outfield, with four players vying for three spots. Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu are also considered everyday options in the outfield. Although Duran is the oldest of the four, he is under team control for the next three seasons. Duran's numbers are down from last season, when he finished eighth in the AL MVP voting and earned All-Star Game MVP. This season, he's hitting .259 with a .768 OPS, nine home runs and 55 RBIs. He does lead the AL with 12 triples. Last season, Duran hit .285 with an .834 OPS, along with 21 home runs, 14 triples, 48 doubles and 111 runs scored. MORE MLB NEWS: How a Padres pitcher is driving the market before trade deadline Why Bryce Harper told Rob Manfred to 'get the f—' out of Phillies clubhouse Guardians' Emmanuel Clase put on paid leave amid MLB's sports-betting investigation Most home runs in an MLB game, from Lou Gehrig to Nick Kurtz Yankees linked to 3 shortstop trades in AL East
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
How Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is dealing with self-imposed pressure to live up to last year's All-Star season
And yet Duran's season doesn't exist in isolation. It's taking place in the shadow of his remarkable 2024 performance, during which he hit .285/.342/.492 with 83 extra-base hits and 34 steals, a dynamo who won All-Star MVP honors and finished eighth in American League MVP voting. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Often this year, Duran has been minding that gap. Advertisement 'It's kind of hard to not look at last year, because all the negative stuff I see is that I suck and I'm not what I was last year,' said Duran. 'Everybody loves to talk about it, but at the same time it's like, I don't think these people realize how hard it is to be an All-Star Game MVP every single night. It's just not humanly possible. This game is a game of failure. You fail more than you succeed. [But] knowing myself, I always see all the negative stuff. 'I think this whole year has just kind of been like one big blur of not being able to be comfortable and trust myself. Sometimes I trust myself, and then two seconds later I don't. So I feel like this whole year has just been me fighting my own self.' Advertisement Baseball isn't a high jump. You don't set one personal standard, raise the bar, then diligently work toward the next one. A 162-game season is defined largely by the baseline standards that players can establish, rather than their peaks. And yet Duran always measures success based on his pinnacle. 'It's just how I am. I mean, honestly, when I won the All-Star Game MVP last year, I was happy about it, but at the same time, I was like, 'Well, crap. I'm going to have to put this pressure on myself to be this player every single night,' ' he said. 'As dumb as it sounds, I was like, 'Oh, [expletive].' I'm just putting more pressure on my own self, like, 'I've done this. Now I expect myself to do this every night.' ' Related : But recently, Duran has been a bit more forgiving of his performance, a development with two sources. First, he looks like he's turned a corner. His line sat at .252/.310/.398 on June 28. But in Duran is less concerned about those numbers than the approach that underlies them. He's cut his chase rate from 33 percent to 24 percent during his recent run — and even sees a positive in the fact that 25 percent of his strikeouts have been called during this run, a contrast to the beginning of the season in which just 11 percent of his strikeouts had been looking. Advertisement Why is that meaningful? 'It means I'm controlling the zone better,' said Duran. 'Pitchers are way too good these days to chase them around the entire plate. So, if I'm trying to get them in a specific area and they just happen to paint something that's not in the area that I'm looking, you've got to tip your cap. 'Nobody wants to strike out, but I'm trying to keep the positive mind-set, even after a strikeout. It was, 'OK, he made a great pitch away. I wasn't looking away. I was still staying in my area. I was staying [true] to where I thought I could do damage and get an actual competitive pitch to hit.' ' The other reason why Duran is more at ease than he'd been for much of the season: the changing dynamics of the Red Sox. Duran has found joy in the arrivals of Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer. He's been happy to share his experiences about finding his footing in the big leagues with the rookies, but in many ways, Duran has taken reassurance from players who are 21 (Anthony) and 22 (Mayer). 'The young guys are just like, 'I'm just going to go out there and just do me and have fun.' It's kind of cool. I see the younger guys, and I'm like, 'Shoot, maybe I should think about it like that,' ' said Duran. 'They're just two of the best people I've ever met, and I can't imagine not having them on my team, or just being able to talk to them every day.' Related : Advertisement There is at least the hint of a question about whether that opportunity will remain in place. Earlier this month, the outfield/DH crowd of Duran, Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Even so, until Thursday's trade deadline passes, there will at least be curiosity about whether Duran might move. But with the Sox having pushed into wild-card position, Duran does not share it. 'Honestly, that's probably one of the things I actually don't stress about,' he said. 'I have no control over it. If it happens, it happens … It's just all rumors for now, so I'm just going to keep having fun with my boys.' Alex Speier can be reached at
