‘I’ve been the worst player in baseball this entire year’: Red Sox’ Jarren Duran keeping head down during season-long slump

The final visual of the Red Sox’ winning streak, from the moment it ended Wednesday night: Jarren Duran, having softly lined out to second base to end the game, walked slowly back to the dugout calm, cool, and collected, then slammed his bat — breaking it — upon getting there.

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It has been that kind of season for Duran, who despite decent pop — 13 home runs, just three shy of his total from last year — has not been able to find any sort of offensive stride.

“I’ve been obviously the worst player in baseball this entire year, and it’s not hiding anywhere,” Duran said before the loss. “It’s been very obvious. I’m just trying to keep my head down and support my teammates as much as I can.”

Duran was exaggerating a bit, but he does rank among the worst hitters in the majors. His .190 average is last among qualified hitters. With a .251 on-base percentage, he is second-to-last. And his .342 slugging percentage is 10th from the bottom.

He has rated well in left field, but still, that has helped him to minus-0.1 Wins Above Replacement, as calculated by FanGraphs. Only seven hitters have worse marks.

Interim manager Chad Tracyhas mostly stuck with Duran amid the struggles, albeit while dropping him to the bottom third of the batting order and deploying him as something close to a platoon player, recently usingJahmai Jones (and previously Nate Eaton) against lefthanded pitchers.

On Sunday, Duran batted eighth for the first time since one game last September.

“I’ve been doing absolutely nothing, and [teammates have] been picking me up,” Duran said. “And I couldn’t ask for a better team around me to be supporting me.”

The Sox will try to maintain their hot streak while hosting another American League East opponent, the Blue Jays, for a three-game set beginning Friday.

The Blue Jays had not made official as of Thursday afternoon their rotation for the weekend, but if they stay on turn, they will be using their top three arms.

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A quick look at the probable pitchers:

⋅ Friday: RHP Trey Yesavage (3.78 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (4.82)

⋅ Saturday: RHP Dylan Cease (2.67) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (2.48)

⋅ Sunday: RHP Kevin Gausman (4.51) vs. TBD

The Sox have options for that Sunday slot. It is Payton Tolle’s turn, but they could choose to slot in Ranger Suarez, who was on the brink of returning from the injured list (strained left groin) until being felled by an illness this week.

If Suarez is good to go, perhaps the Sox wait to use him — and his much lower fly-ball rate — on Monday, when they open a series at the Athletics’ hitter-friendly ballpark in West Sacramento, Calif.

Interesting leftover from the Sox’ loss Wednesday: Brayan Bello’s velocity was up.

His sinker, for example, averaged 96.5 miles per hour (up from his season average of 95) and maxed out at 98.4. His less-used four-seam fastball was 96.8 (up from 94.9).

“I felt rested and fresh, so I think that’s why the velocity was there,” Bello, who had pitched just once in the previous 20 days, said through an interpreter.

Bello tossed 5⅓ scoreless innings out of the bullpen, continuing his bizarre season-long trend: 10.35 ERA as a starter (eight games), 0.77 ERA when making start-length relief appearances (six games).

Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley was in the house at Fenway Park this week, watching as Aroldis Chapman picked up his 390th career save Wednesday to tie Eckersley for ninth on the all-time list. Boston was a pitstop on the way to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction weekend. “The older you get, the better it is, because I can appreciate it so much,” Eckersley said of the annual visit to Cooperstown. “Really. Everybody’s getting old. Time’s ticking, man.” … Eduardo Rivera, sent back to Triple-A Worcester, is up to four major league appearances. In the first two, he posted seven shutout innings (two hits). In the next two, he allowed seven runs in three innings … Thursday marked one month since Garrett Whitlock (1.95 ERA) allowed a run.

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