There’s only one game on the Major League Baseball schedule for Thursday, July 15, and it’s one that Jarren Duran will remember for the rest of his life. A source told MLB.com that the former Long Beach State Dirtbags standout will be added to the active roster for the Boston Red Sox and is expected to make his MLB debut on Thursday night.
According to a tweet from Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Duran was not in Wednesday’s lineup with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester and was instead on his way to New York, where he will join the Red Sox for their rivalry series at Yankee Stadium.
Duran, 24, is set to become the 52nd player from Long Beach State to be called up to the big leagues, and the first since Jeff McNeil made his debut with the New York Mets on July 24, 2018.
During his three seasons at Long Beach State, Duran made 169 starts at second base, but was projected as an outfielder when the Red Sox used a 7th round pick on him in the 2018 MLB Draft. Duran was a .294 career hitter with the Dirtbags, and posted a .380 on-base percentage in his final season in Long Beach.
As a prospect, Duran has been lauded for his elite speed on defense and on the basepaths. In college he swiped 49 bases in his career, placing him fourth in Dirtbags history.
In 245 career games in the minor leagues, Duran is a .312 hitter with a .374 on-base percentage, an OPS of .842, and 82 stolen bases. This season with Triple-A Worcester, Duran has been an absolute force at the plate, smacking 15 home runs in just 46 games to post career-bests with a .561 slugging percentage and a .926 OPS.
It’s no surprise to see Duran get the call this season, since he was invited to participate in the 2019 MLB Futures Game–an annual showcase of the top prospects in baseball. This year, Duran was rated as the No. 3 prospect in the Red Sox farm system and the No. 86 prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB.com.
Duran was also included on the Team USA roster for the Olympic Qualifiers earlier this spring. Ultimately, due in large part to the likelihood of his big league call-up, Duran was not included on Team USA’s Olympic roster, and will instead be making his big league debut prior to the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
Duran is a local product out of Cypress High School, and had a very successful run during his time at Long Beach State. He helped the Dirtbags to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances in his career, including a Super Regional berth in 2017. Duran was a two-time All-Big West selection at Long Beach State, leading the team in runs twice while posting a team-leading 67 hits during the 2018 season.
Duran is expected to mostly play center field for the Red Sox, who open their four-game series in the Bronx on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.
