Red Sox: Jarren Duran commits to playing in Toronto, but questions still linger

Jarren Duran does not plan on missing out on the Boston Red Sox’s next series in Toronto.

After having to chill back in America during the Boston Red Sox‘s most recent road series north of the border, outfielder Jarren Duran seems to have had a change of heart when it comes to his vaccination status.

While most of Boston’s roster is fully vaccinated and boosted from COVID, Duran was unable to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the Ontario provincial capital. The laws are the laws. Though there are players all across baseball who are not vaccinated yet, it is more noticeable when it comes to one of the four AL East rival teams of the Blue Jays. They all play in Canada regularly.

Duran hinted to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com that he plans to be vaccinated by September.

"“I love this game too much to miss out on opportunities to play baseball,” said Duran to Cotillo. “I could care less about the money or service time. I missed the boys and missed playing baseball. That was kind of the deciding factor.”"

It remains to be seen if the last anti-vax holdouts on Boston’s roster will follow Duran’s suit.

Jarren Duran hints he will be vaccinated for Red Sox’s next series at Blue Jays

With nearly three months to get vaccinated, Duran has enough time to meet all the necessary protocols to play the Blue Jays again up in Toronto on Sept. 30. This will be the second to last regular-season series for Boston, as they finish with three at home vs. the Tampa Bay Rays in the first week of October. After that, postseason baseball arrives and Toronto could be an opponent.

Two other Red Sox of note still have vaccination statuses up in the air. Relief pitcher Tanner Houck is still doing his research, while Chris Sale said he will worry about that s**t later on, as he works his way back to the big-league roster. All the while, Boston did drop two of three north of the border, due in large part to bullpen issues cause by Houck not being able to pitch in those games.

Ultimately, a player can do whatever he wants when it comes to getting vaccinated. However, if he chooses not to, he will have to deal with the consequences that are sure to follow. Duran has only played 46 MLB games in his professional career thus far. The former seventh-round pick out of Long Beach is more expendable than say Houck or Sale at this time. It is why he will get jabbed.

Boston only has three games left this season in Toronto, but these rivals could meet in October.