The MLB All-Star game generally sucks. The guys that actually show up (ahem, Devers) go through the motions, and the starters are showered and in street clothes by the time the outcome is in the balance. It’s a meaningless exhibition, so I’m not mad that guys don’t give it their all, but it doesn’t make for a compelling baseball game.
THAT SAID, it’s still a lot of fun to root for your guys during the game, and last night that meant pulling for Tanner Houck and the darling of this Sox season, Jarren Duran. Houck puked all over himself giving up 3 runs and four hits in his one inning including a moonshot homer to the gamblin’ man, Shohei. After his disastrous 3rd inning, the only thing left for me to see was Duran’s impending middle-inning at bat.
With the score knotted at 3 in the bottom of the 5th, Duran stepped to the plate with a runner on and two down, with a chance to do something big. What happened next was a microcosm of the 2024 Boston Red Sox season.
A relatively young guy, on the big stage for the first time in his career, delivered.
Duran unloaded on a 0-1 splitter, depositing the offering 10 rows deep into the rightfield stands to give the AL a 5-3 lead in a game that ended with that exact score. With that one swing, Jarren Duran accomplished a whole lot, both personally and for the Red Sox this season and moving forward.
On a personal level, this was a huge moment for the 27 year old. Hitting the game-winning home run in the ASG, and being named the game MVP, is a huge accomplishment for anybody, but given where his career (and mental health) was a few years ago, this was monumental for him. A guy who was closer to being a career minor leaguer as recently as the beginning of last season isn’t supposed to deliver in that moment, but he did, just as he’s done all year for the Red Sox.
That one swing also has butterfly-effect ramifications on the Red Sox organization. For the last few years, they’ve preached patience, saying that they’re not going to invest until their young core develops and are “ready to win.” Most fans figure that’s corporate speak for “we don’t want to spend money on this team,” but Duran may have forced their hand with his MVP performance swing. Duran is now an (all) star, Ceddanne Rafaela is in the rookie of the year conversation, hitting .246 with 11 bombs and 52 RBI’s while playing elite defense in centerfield AND shortstop, Tanner Houck is on the fringe of the Cy Young race, and Rafael Devers is having the best year of his career. Wong, Abreu, Crawford, Jasen. The list goes on. All across the diamond, guys who started the season with question marks have made leaps this year.
The Boston Red Sox are a playoff team today. Their young core is ahead of schedule and their veterans have been spectacular. This team is ready to win now . The question marks that were tied to their on-field team at the beginning of the year have now shifted to the front office who, with that one swing from Duran last night, have run out of excuses.
