Red Sox to call up top outfield prospect Jarren Duran for upcoming series against Yankees, per report

The Red Sox are planning on calling up top outfield prospect Jarren Duran for their upcoming series against the Yankees in the Bronx, according to the Worcester Telegram’s Joe McDonald.

Jarren Duran will not be in the lineup for the nightcap. In fact, he’s not in the building and is on his way to New York to join the Red Sox tomorrow and could make his major league debut against the Yankees.

— Joe McDonald (@JoeyMacHockey) July 14, 2021

Duran, who has been playing with Triple-A Worcester this season, was not in the WooSox’ lineup for the first game of their doubleheader against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at Polar Park on Wednesday, nor will he be in their lineup for the nightcap.

Instead, as noted by McDonald, Duran is on his way to New York to join the Red Sox as they prepare to kick off the second half of their season with a four-game series against the Yankees that begins on Thursday night.

Duran, 24, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking tops among outfielders in the organization. The Red Sox selected the California native out of Long Beach State in the seventh round of the 2018 amateur draft.

Coming into play Wednesday, the 6-foot-2, 202 pound left-handed hitter was hitting .270/.365/.561 to go along with eight doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 32 RBI, 37 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 24 walks, and 52 strikeouts over 46 games (219 plate appearances) for the WooSox.

Earlier in the spring, the speedy Duran helped United States baseball qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but he was left off of Team USA’s Olympic roster due to the USOC being wary of the fact that the Red Sox would want to call him up at some point over the summer.

Because Duran — who turns 25 in September — is not currently on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster, the club will need to make a corresponding roster move on Thursday in order to add him to the major-league squad.

While it is unclear at the moment what that move will look like, one thing is for certain: Duran will be making his big-league debut under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, who confirmed McDonald’s report, Duran joins Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts as prior top Red Sox outfield prospects to make their major-league debut in the Bronx.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)