Jarren Duran humbled by fans' gratitude after emotional admission of mental health struggles in Netflix documentary
Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran caught the attention of the baseball community with his startling comments in the Netflix documentary 'The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox' released in April. In the fourth episode, Duran revealed he had contemplated suicide during a rough 2022 season.
On the latest episode of the “Section 10 Podcast," Duran shared the support and gratitude he has received from fans after his revelation.
“At first, I was really nervous, because I have never shared something like that to that extent,” Duran said. "But the amount of positive help that kids have come up to me at stadiums saying, ‘Hey, I’m alive because of you.’ I would throw my world out there even more if it were to help kids like that.”
Jarren Duran revealed that messages from fans have kept him motivated through tough stretches during the season.
“That means everything to me, for them to tell me that kind of stuff. And that even helps me, like, ‘This kid’s here because of me? Alright, I’ve gotta keep going for him and then the next person and then the next person.’ It meant a lot for those kids to come up to me. Except for the fan in Cleveland, you’re lucky I didn’t get to you."
Duran enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, highlighted by his heroics in the midsummer classic that saw him named the All-Star MVP.
Jarren Duran discussed trade rumors after Red Sox moved Rafael Devers
During the podcast appearance, Jarren Duran also discussed franchise star Rafael Devers' trade to the San Francisco Giants that sent shockwaves in the MLB earlier this month.
"I feel like people wanted us to dwell on it, but it's like, what is that gonna do? It's not gonna bring him back," Duran said. "People were like, 'Oh, maybe they didn't like Raffy,' or 'maybe they didn't care,' stuff like that, I'm like, 'No!' But what's crying about it gonna do? It's not going to bring him back."
Reports have indicated that the Red Sox could put Jarren Duran on the trade block next month; however, the All-Star outfielder is not paying too much attention to the rumors.
“I mean, they talked about me last year getting traded, too, to the Padres and stuff like that. But I don’t really take any of that into account because I don’t really have any say over it,” Duran said.
Heading into Friday's series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jarren Duran batted .254 with five home runs and 38 RBIs.