FORT MYERS, Fla. - "He told you guys about that?"
"He sure did."
That sealed the deal. The proclamation by Alex Cora Thursday morning, just hours before the Red Sox' first spring training game against the Twins at JetBlue Park, had been passed on to Jarren Duran just about an hour before first pitch.
Duran told Cora he was going to bunt the first pitch he saw. Cora told his outfielder that if he executed the bunt the manager would buy Duran dinner.
"He is leading off today," Cora said. "He has made some adjustments offensively. He looks a lot bigger than last year compared to how he finished with COVID. One thing I told him for this season is we want the energetic kid we see on Instagram and in Worcester. It’s part of his equation. It’s part of what he does. I think last year he was very careful being himself. One of the things about our club is we don’t care. Just do whatever you have to do to be a good big leaguer and he needs to play with energy. It’s not that he didn’t do it. But I think Jarren is a guy who can show emotion and that helps. He will be ready today. He said he is going to bunt on the first pitch. I told him if he bunts I will take him out to dinner. We’ll see what happens."
Sure enough. First pitch fastball from Minnesota starter Cole Sands ...
Duran went on to leg out an infield single on the next pitch from Sands.
Asked where he was going to request Cora take him to dinner if the bunt was executed, Duran said he was going to ask J.D. Martinez one of the more pricey places in the greater Fort Myers area.
"Use the legs. That’s part the equation," Cora added regarding Duran. "One of the things about his BP now, last year it was a show, hitting bombs. But everything was to the pull side. This year it’s more left-center, right-center, which is a great sign. Obviously this is a guy who used to bunt, he used to use his legs as a weapon and we need him to get back to that."
