The Red Sox should have held Jarren Duran accountable after his latest outburst

LOS ANGELES — The Red Sox arrived at Dodger Stadium on Friday in the midst of one of the most inspiring stretches of baseball in franchise history, having won 25 of their last 30 games to salvage what appeared to be a lost season.

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It’s a testament to teamwork, perseverance, overcoming adversity, all that good stuff.

But Jarren Duran made it about himself on Thursday night.

With Willson Contreras on third base in the sixth inning of a 3-3 game against the Athletics, Duran sent a fly ball 245 feet to left field and Tyler Soderstrom, who has five assists this season and one of the strongest arms in the game.

Contreras wisely held at third base as the throw came in. He would have been out by 10 feet otherwise.

Duran yelled out an obscenity after failing to drive in the run. Then he motioned toward third base and shouted, “What the [expletive]?” before slamming a tablet down.

Whether that invective was directed at Contreras or third base coach Chad Epperson doesn’t matter. Duran was being a bad teammate.

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Red Sox radio announcer Will Flemming called it unacceptable on the air, as did his partner, Lenny DiNardo.

“What is that? That is ridiculous,” Flemming said. “That is such a tired act.”

The inning ended, and Duran went back out to left field.

“I’m frankly surprised he’s still in the game,” Flemming said.

It shouldn’t be a surprise. Had Andruw Monasterio or Anthony Seigler done that, they would have been stapled to the bench. But Duran gets a pass because of his well-chronicled mental health issues.

Interim manager Chad Tracy went with the “nothing to see here” defense after the Sox won the game, 5-4, and repeated that on Friday.

“The group is in great spirits,” he said. “Everything is in a really good spot. There’s more to that than maybe what’s getting put out there, which I won’t discuss.”

Tracy is right to take that approach. He has been a players-first manager since taking over in April, and it has served him well. But video doesn’t lie. Duran was back in the lineup, and Tracy said he didn’t consider otherwise.

If Thursday wasn’t crossing the line, where is that line?

Duran told reporters on Thursday that this latest incident wasn’t their business.

“Nobody needs to know. That’s something between us and the team that we know what it’s about,” he said. “So that doesn’t really matter.”

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Sure thing. Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen.

Duran turns 30 next month and made his debut with the Sox midway through the 2021 season. Only Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Connor Wong have been on the roster longer.

That seniority brings with it a responsibility to set the right example. Acting selfishly in the heat of a pennant race is as far away from that as it gets.

Think about everything that Contreras has gone through this season — the swings of emotion after the earthquakes in his native Venezuela, followed by the brawl with the Nationals, then his late addition to the All-Star Game. Now he has a guy with a .589 OPS showing him up in public?

That’s the other part of this. Duran has been one of the worst hitters in the game this season. He has the lowest batting average and second-lowest OPS among qualified hitters. His improved play in left field and occasional stolen base are the only positives Duran has added to the roster.

By bWAR, Duran has been as valuable to the Sox as Jahmai Jones, who has appeared in eight games. They’re both at 0.3.

The attention-seeking public displays of anger are nothing new, too. In April, Duran made an obscene gesture towards a fan at Target Field.

“Somebody just told me to kill myself,” Duran said after the game. “I’m used to it at this point. [Things] happen. I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me.”

The Twins investigated the incident, interviewing fans seated in the area, and found no evidence that it happened. I was told Major League Baseball came to the same conclusion and ultimately fined Duran for his actions.

The Sox had a window to trade Duran after last season and didn’t take advantage of it. They need him for now, if only for his defense, with Roman Anthony on the injured list.

But Anthony has started to swing a bat as he recovers from a wrist injury, and Masataka Yoshida has hit .303 with an .870 OPS since June 25. There are alternatives.

The Sox, incredibly, have an opportunity to do something special this season. They should not let anything, or anybody, get in the way of that.

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