Dream Red Sox starting lineup for the 2024 season
By Eric Cole
#7 - Jarren Duran - RF
In the seven spot, our hand is forced a bit regarding Boston's outfield situation. One the one hand, Alex Verdugo was a pretty good player for the Red Sox in 2023 as he accumulated 2.3 rWAR with a mediocre, but still passable .745 OPS. However, there is just too much noise surrouding a Verdugo trade to ignore and the spot instead goes to Jarren Duran.
Before his season was prematurely ended due to a turf toe injury, Duran was putting up a great season for the Red Sox with an .828 OPS while stealing 24 bases in just 102 games. It took him a while to get his hit tool in a good place in the big leagues, but he appears to be primed to be a dynamic game-changer for Boston for years to come.
Having a righty bat makes a lot of sense here and Duran is batting this low for two reasons. First, the toe injury required surgery which is a little spooky for a guy whose speed is such an important part of his game. Second, while he was awesome in 2023 when he was on the field, his track record is still a bit spotty to put him any higher in this loaded lineup.