Behind the scenes of the Boston Red Sox's Mother's Day loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Jarren Duran had another tumultuous day in the press. It ended with the outfielder deleting his Instagram account.
Duran reposted an Instagram reel on his personal story on Sunday, April 10. The video was a segment from NBC Sports Boston of host Michael Holley commenting on Roman Anthony's injury and the start of his sophomore season with the Red Sox.
“I understand why all teams do it, but let’s just be honest. All teams lie. They lie about injuries, they just do,” Holley said. “...So when the Red Sox did it, like, why are we doing this? Why are you playing games with us? This is an unnecessary lie. We know you’re lying. Stop it. ‘He’s day-to-day.’ No, he’s not!"
Holley also referred to Anthony as "one of the biggest flops that we've seen" after his early performance.
There's no way to know for certain which statement Duran objected to — maybe he was referring to both — when he captioned his repost, "They let people like this on NBC Sports," punctuated by clown and laughing face emojis.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran deletes Instagram profile after controversy involving NBC Sports Boston host
Regardless of his posts intention, Duran's reaction came off as harsh and not politically correct. It's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt on his meaning after the many questionable interactions he's had with fans over the years.
At the same time, Holley, who is well-respected in the Boston media community, should recognize the position in which Anthony has been placed. After a rookie season during which he played 71 games in the major leagues, Anthony was thrust into a leadership position he has no business holding as a soon-to-be-22-year-old.
Anthony has, however, only batted .229/.354/.321 over his first 30 games this season, definitely more disappointing metrics than Boston was expecting. On the other hand, he was slashing .269./.345/.346 and undeniably trending up in the seven games before his injury — the Red Sox might've hoped to quell worries about another long absence, but it also makes no sense to waste his roster spot if he's going to be sitting on the bench.
Duran must've faced quite a bit of backlash for his post, which led him to eventually delete his Instagram account entirely. Whether he was protecting Anthony in his mind or not, Duran needs to focus on his on-field production before thinking too much about becoming a leader or defender in the clubhouse. The outfielder is slashing just .194/.253/.324 over 35 games.
It's been a tough few weeks for the Red Sox, marred by injuries to various important players, managerial firings and off-the-field drama. The last thing Boston needs is an Instagram beef to add to it all.
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