Even if the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays had played as scheduled Tuesday night, Jarren Duran wouldn't have been in the lineup. And when the two teams convene at Fenway Wednesday for a separate admission doubleheader, it's likely that Duran won't be part of the starting lineup in either game.
As they wind through a couple of big series against American League opponents -- three remaining with the Blue Jays at Fenway, followed by three more against Tampa Bay this weekend at Tropicana Field -- the Red Sox are in the midst of a stretch that calls for them to face six straight lefty starting pitchers.
That means limited playing time for Duran, the rookie outfielder who made his major league debut almost two weeks ago.
For now, the Red Sox are searching for the most favorable matchups possible for Duran, and trying to avoid having him exposed to too many lefties. Even as Duran was tearing up Triple A East, he struggled against lefties. Now that he's in the big leagues, where the quality of pitchers is considerably better, the Sox are trying to ease his transition by keeping him away from the toughest lefthanders.
Toronto's Robbie Ray -- Tuesday's planned starter, who will now start the first game in Wednesday's doubleheader -- presents a challenge to even the most established major leaguers, so the Sox determined that experience wouldn't be conducive to his development and had Alex Verdugo in center.
"As you know, there's lefties and then there's lefties,'' said Alex Cora of the decision. "The one today (Ray), he's a tough one. We'll look at splits and we'll look at the pitch usage. He hits lefthanded pitching; he's done it throughout his career. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think on Thursday, against (Hyun Jin) Ryu, there's a good chance we'll play him. We'll see how it goes in Tampa. Obviously, they have their program. Sometimes, their lefties go one time through the order, two times through the order. We'll see how we balance that.''
In his introduction to big league pitching, Duran has struggled. After a line single up the middle off Gerrit Cole on the very first pitch thrown to him in the majors at Yankee Stadium, Duran has appeared overmatched at times. He's had a difficult time making contact -- another factor on display at Worcester, now exacerbated by better competition in the majors -- with 10 strikeouts in 24 at-bats.
Duran began the Yankee series at Fenway well with a two-for-three game against Cole. But he then finished with seven straight hitless at-bats, including three strikeouts Sunday. He followed that up with another hitless night against the Jays Monday in four trips to the plate.
"I know the weekend was tough on him,'' acknowledged Cora. "(Monday) he hit a few balls hard. He's still bringing energy. We're still working with him. (In games in which he's not starting against a lefty), if there's a righty later in the game, we're not afraid to use him.''
Meanwhile, with three utility infielders on the IL -- Christian Arroyo, Marwin Gonzalez and Danny Santana -- and none scheduled to return anytime soon, the Sox are a bit thin in the infield.
On Tuesday, Cora had planned to give Xander Bogaerts a second straight night off, in part to allow him to rest an ailing wrist that has been nagging at him since the series in New York. With Kike Hernandez handling short in Bogaerts' absence, the Sox really only have Michael Chavis at second base.
Before being shifted to the outfield in 2019, Duran was drafted as a second baseman and Cora was asked whether he was an option there in the short-term.
"I actually asked him about that the other day,'' Cora said with a chuckle. "I said, 'Can you still play second?' And he said, 'Of course I can.' He hasn't taken ground balls there in a while. I've never seen him at second, so I don't know how good or bad it is. I do believe we're covered. In an emergency, with his experience, it might be an option.''