MLB, Twins investigating after Red Sox's Jarren Duran alleges heckling fan told him to kill himself

· Yahoo Sports

Content warning: This story contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide and needs support now, call or text 988 or chat with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988lifeline.org.

Major League Baseball and the Minnesota Twins are both investigating the allegation leveled by Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, who claimed Tuesday that a heckling fan told him to kill himself after he grounded out in the top of the fifth inning during a 6-0 loss at Minnesota’s Target Field, as reported by The Associated Press Wednesday.

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“We were made aware of the situation late last night and are looking into it,” Twins senior vice president of communications and public affairs Dustin Morse said, per the AP.

“There’s no place in our game for conduct like that.”

Duran, who has been transparent his mental health struggles — including the fact that he attempted to take his own life earlier in his career — responded to the alleged remark by directing a middle finger toward a spectator sitting in the stands behind first base.

“Somebody told me to kill myself,” Duran said after Tuesday night’s game, according to The Athletic.

“I’m used to it at this point. S*** happens. I’m going to flip somebody off if they say something to me. It is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that, but that stuff is still kind of triggering. It happens.”

In a Netflix docuseries that followed the 2024 Boston Red Sox and aired last year, Duran opened up about the internal battles he’s faced, particularly during the 2021 and 2022 seasons as an inexperienced major leaguer. He explained how, at his lowest point, he attempted to shoot himself with a rifle, except the gun didn’t fire.

Not long after his story became public, the one-time All-Star and All-Star Game MVP was taunted in a similar fashion early last season. Late in a Red Sox road win over the Cleveland Guardians on April 27, 2025, a fan near the Boston dugout yelled at Duran, who retorted and had to be held back by coaches, umpires and teammates.

The 29-year-old Duran, now in his sixth season with the Red Sox, has a history of clapping back at fans.

In August 2024, the team suspended him for two games after he used an anti-gay slur mid-at-bat while addressing a fan who was critical of his offense. Duran apologized, and his salary for the two games he missed were donated to an LGBTQ organization.

But when Duran divulged information about his 2022 suicide attempt to cameras, his main goal was to increase awareness about the resources available to manage mental health issues and to share his story “and let people know that they're not alone,” as previously reported by MLB.com.

But, despite all the good that’s come from that message, Duran was hard on himself Tuesday.

“Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health, so I kind of brought in the haters,” Duran said, via MLB.com. “So it’s just something I’ve got to get used to.”

Duran is still working on staying composed in those unfortunate moments. He told reporters that he didn’t relay what he heard from the stands to the dugout on Tuesday, noting that he was “was just trying to hold it in” and was focused on winning the game.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wasn’t aware of what happened when he was asked about it postgame, but he met with assembled media ahead of Boston’s 9-5 win in the series finale and offered his two cents.

“I know the Twins are all over the case and trying to find out who he was, and hopefully they find the person,” Cora said, in addition to mentioning that, if the fan is found, “it’s probably the last big-league game that that person is going to attend,” per the AP.

Cora also said Wednesday, according to the AP: “We have Jarren’s back. Like I said last year, for him to open up, he saved lives. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy because, like he said, we’re in the business of winning games, and he doesn’t want to be a distraction. And he’s not a distraction. He’s not. He’s just a player that plays for the Red Sox and has our full support.”

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