NEW YORK -- Rangers manager Skip Schumaker says that Ezequiel Duran is everything a manager wants from a utilityman.
He’s ready to play any position every single day. He does the little things well. He’s energetic. He’s more effective off the bench now than he’s ever been.
“There's nobody that provides more energy whether he's playing or not playing, which I really appreciate, because you need to have those guys on the bench,” Schumaker said during the Rangers’ last homestand. “Those guys are extremely valuable. When guys are dragging a little bit, and he's the guy that's bouncing off the walls and getting guys going. That's extremely valuable, and I appreciate that as well. He's making it tough not to [be] put in the lineup. That's how well he's playing.”
“I enjoy playing everywhere,” Duran said. “If I'm playing, that's what I like. If I’m in the lineup, I'm happy. If I'm on the bench, I'm happy too. It's the big leagues.”
And well, he’s definitely playing himself into the lineup.
Following the conclusion of Wednesday night’s 6-1 win over the Yankees, the former New York farmhand is hitting .303 /.365/.461, while playing second base (12 games), left field (9), third base (6), right field (5), and shortstop (1).
In Wednesday night’s win, he went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBIs.
Duran broke camp with the big league club, but Josh Smith was the regular second-base replacement for Marcus Semien -- who the Rangers sent to the Mets for Brandon Nimmo this offseason -- for much of the first month of 2026. With Smith on the injured list and Duran raking, he more than earned the opportunity for more playing time.
“He's using the whole field,” Schumaker said. “He's becoming a hitter. So I feel like he can do the little things if we need that at the top as well. He provides a spark, and it's something that our lineup has needed. He’s earned not only more playing time, but more at-bats with the way he's produced. You earn those opportunities. You earn more at-bats with what you're doing at this level. [He] has had nice years so far. I know it's just a month, but he’s had a nice start to the year. We're kind of trying to ride that as much as we can.”
Duran hit .308/.344/.526 before the All-Star break in 2023 in place of an injured Corey Seager, but tailed off for much of the second half of that season. Since then, he hasn’t been much of a factor in the Rangers' equation, slashing .237/.278/.309 with a 73 OPS+ in 182 games in 2024-25.
In 2026, he looks like the best version of himself at the plate, the one that he was in 2023. His homer on March 31 in Baltimore snapped a 275 plate appearance home run drought since Sept. 9, 2024, good for a 105-game homerless streak.
“I’m just working on hitting the ball to the middle,” Duran said. “Just staying inside the ball, and hitting it hard to the middle. I'm letting the ball travel to me and to the heart of the plate and staying inside. I’m not trying to pull the ball. Last year, I was working on my post, or my hand, my lower body. Now it’s more simple. Not thinking too much.”
But the biggest change in Duran year-over-year hasn’t been the hitting, though that does help. They’ve always known he could hit. It’s chasing less and walking more.
Duran’s chase rate has dropped to 32.9% this season, much closer to the league average of 28.5%. He chased at 39.3% in ‘24 and 37.4% in ‘25.
“It’s game planning,” Schumaker explained. “He's kind of taking that to the next level. We have Bobby Bandalo, who's been really good for him. He's one of our analysts. Alex Cintron has been game planning with our hitting group and has been exceptional. I think Alex Cintron has been amazing for Duran, walking him through each at-bat and what to look for.
"And to Duran's credit, he's actually been disciplined in that, in those meetings, and taking it into the game. A lot of guys will say one thing, and then they'll go to the plate and continue doing whatever. A lot of these coaches have done some elite game planning. Alex has done it for a long time. He's really good at it. I think that's been a real focus for Duran early part of the year.”
And while that’s fair, it’s notably hard for a guy to stop chasing pitches when it’s all he’s done in his career.
“That’s just God,” Duran said with a laugh. “That’s God.”