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Red Sox OF Jarren Duran
The Boston Red Sox watched Jarren Duran dominate at the World Baseball Classic. He finished with five hits in 15 at-bats across four games for Mexico, hitting .333/.412/1.000 with three home runs and five RBIs. He also stole two bases and scored five runs.
His best performance came against Team USA on Monday night. Duran launched two home runs off Matthew Boyd in Mexico's 5-3 loss. One went opposite field to the Crawford Boxes. The other cut the deficit to two runs in the eighth inning.
Despite his strong performances, Mexico was knocked out Wednesday after a 9-1 loss to Italy. Duran's tournament stood out. In a recent video, he addressed a major change for the 2026 season.
Duran Reveals Change for 2026 Season
Duran spoke about his approach for 2026 in a YouTube video for Bruce Bolt.
"For me, I'm kind of going in with a different mentality this year," Duran said. "It's something that I've been working on this whole offseason, just mentality-wise. I'm excited to see if the fans can notice my different approach to the game this year."
He spent the winter working on how he thinks about the game. Not his mechanics. Not his swing. His mentality. The results are already visible.
"This season's gonna be fun," Duran said. "We've got a really good, exciting team. I think last year we kind of showed what we can do as a young team and we're just getting more experience under our belt."
Boston reached the playoffs in 2025. The roster is young and getting better. Duran believes they showed something important last season. Now comes building on it.
The 2025 Season Didn't Go As Planned
Duran's 2024 season was everything. All-Star selection. Career-best production across every category. MVP-caliber performance from start to finish.
Then 2025 arrived. The numbers fell across the board. WAR dropped. Power numbers declined. OPS took a hit. Nothing catastrophic. Just not close to what he'd done the year before.
"Honestly, I've just been trying to have more fun again," Duran said. "I feel like in '25, I got a little antsy and anxious to try to repeat what I did in '24. Thinking like that doesn't get you back to that, so I just need to kind of get back to having fun and playing loose again."
The weight of expectations changed how he played. Instead of the freedom that fueled his breakout, he started pressing. Trying to manufacture the same results. The more he chased it, the further away it felt. He's ready to flip the script in 2026.
GettyJarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox
What the WBC Showed for Red Sox
Duran homered against Brazil earlier in the tournament. He couldn't stop smiling rounding the bases. Playing for Mexico meant honoring his father's heritage. The emotion was genuine.
"When I hit that homer, the first thing I thought of was my dad and his family, and how I can represent them," Duran told MLB Network's Jon Morosi.
Born in California, Duran used the WBC to connect with his father's Mexican roots. The atmosphere in Houston for Mexico's games was electric.
"You can't describe it," Duran said. "You have to be here to witness it, but it's one of the loudest crowds I've been a part of."
Duran heads back to the Red Sox after elimination. The regular season will determine if the new approach holds up over 162 games.
Final Word for the Red Sox
Jarren Duran knows what derailed 2025. He chased a repeat instead of trusting what made him successful. The pressure built. The production suffered.
He spent the winter fixing it. Six home runs between spring training and the WBC. A different energy. A different mindset.
Fans should notice. Duran wants them to. If he stays loose, the All-Star form from 2024 is well within reach.
Keith Watkins Keith Watkins is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers. He previously wrote for FanSided, NBA Analysis Network, and Last Word On Sports. Keith is based in Bangkok, Thailand. More about Keith Watkins