Jarren Duran now owns an exclusive spot in MLB history
BOSTON -- Jarren Duran continued his incredible season for the Red Sox on Tuesday night, leading the team to a much-needed win over the Toronto Blue Jays with his bat and his arm. In clubbing his 20th homer of the season, Duran joined an exclusive club in MLB history.
How exclusive? Duran is currently the only member of this club.
Duran launched a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, his 20th longball on the year. In doing so, Duran became the first player in Major League Baseball since at least 1901 to record 20 homers, 40 doubles, 10 triples, and 30 stolen bases in the same season. Talk about setting the tone for the Boston offense.
It's not every day that someone creates a new statistical club in baseball. But Duran downplayed the accomplishment after Boston's 6-3 win at Fenway Park, because he doesn't believe it will be a party of one for very long.
"That's pretty crazy but, I mean, it's just a stat," Duran said after going 2-for-4 against the Jays. "It doesn't really mean anything. It's gonna be broken eventually. Guys like [Kansas City's Bobby] Witt [Jr.] can do that in his sleep. It's a cool honor, but you know, at the end of the day, it doesn't do anything for the team unless I'm helping them win.
"But it's a pretty awesome stat to have," Duran concluded.
There's the 40-40 club, so what would we even call this exclusive group that now consists of only Duran? The 10-20-30-40 club is a mouthful, but it does have a nice ring to it.
For the season, Duran has 42 doubles (Philadelphia's Alex Bohm leads the majors with 44), an MLB-best 13 triples, and 32 stolen bases. He ranks fourth in MLB with 161 hits, and is slashing .292/.354/.528 for the year.
Duran isn't just doing it with the bat for Boston. Before he smacked his homer, Duran logged another outfield assist when he gunned down Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at second base when the Blue Jays slugger tried to stretch a hard-hit single into a double. Then in the second inning, he played Will Wagner's double off the wall in center perfectly, and hit Cedanne Rafaela with an on-the-money relay throw before the shortstop threw out Joey Loperfido at home. Duran is now up to nine outfield assists on the season.
"He had a great game not only offensively but defensively," manager Alex Cora said of his centerfielder. "The relay, that kind of changed the game. The throw to second to get Vladdy too. Like I've been saying all along, he's one of the best players in the big leagues."
Duran continues to add to his career -- and historic -- season and provide a spark for the Red Sox nearly every night.