Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps: Ezequiel Duran

Ezequiel Duran, a middle infield prospect, made his MLB debut in June and played nearly 60 games with the Rangers in 2022.

InsidetheRangers.com will review each of the players on the Texas Rangers 40-man roster at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

IF Ezequiel Duran

Statistics for 2022: Batted .236/.277/.365/.642 in 58 games (208 at-bats). He scored 25 runs, had 49 hits, 76 total bases, two doubles, one triple, five home runs and 25 RBI. He walked 12 times and struck out 54 times. He stole four bases and was caught stealing once. He had an overall fielding percentage of .957 playing second base (nine games) and .933 playing third base (51 games). He was the DH in one game.

Season Transactions: Assigned to Double-A Frisco RoughRiders on March 27. Called up to Texas Rangers on June 4. Optioned to Triple-A Round Rock Express on June 26. Recalled to Rangers on July 21. Optioned to Round Rock on Sept. 8.

Season Summary: Duran’s call-up was probably a tad ahead of schedule and prompted by the injury to fellow rookie Josh Smith. But, at some point Duran — one of the four players the Rangers acquired in the Joey Gallo trade in 2021 — was going to get a shot in the Majors. He immediately had to play out of position. He’s been a middle infielder in the minors, but he played the bulk of his time at third base and made nine of his 10 errors at the position. Still, he did show improvement. The Rangers didn’t start him in the outfield but sent him down to Triple A in part because they wanted him to get reps there. He’s a versatile player that Smith said in September is one of the “best hitters I’ve ever played with.” He hit the way most would expect a 23-year-old rookie to hit.

Contract Status: Duran is in his first Major League season so the Rangers control his rights for the foreseeable future.

What’s next: Duran’s path to the Majors is a bit blocked at the moment. Corey Seager plays shortstop and Marcus Semien plays second base, which are his natural positions. Third base isn’t an option anymore with Josh Jung now at the Major League level. Duran’s clearest path to the Majors in 2023 is to show that he has quality versatility. He has to show he can consistently toggle between a primary outfield position and backing up multiple infield positions. If he can do that, and improve his batting average in the spring, he’s a candidate to make the Opening-Day roster. If not, he’ll likely start the season at Triple-A and emerge as potential trade bait next July. Don’t rule out the Rangers moving Duran this offseason either, if it means acquiring quality starting pitching. The Rangers have a glut of talent at middle infield in their system at the moment.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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