Ezequiel Durán Is the Best Utility Player Nobody Talks About

As avid baseball fans, we’re all familiar with the moniker of the “utility man,” reserved for players with the versatility to play all over the field. They’re able to slot into any position more often than not, except catcher (and pitcher, if we’re counting that).

Popularized by the gold standard of the breed — Ben Zobrist — utility players have been among the most important components of successful teams in recent years. They’ve allowed contenders to build more flexible rosters and can be some of the most valuable pieces off the bench.

The best of the breed, though, have no trouble finding their way into a starting lineup. Marwin González finished ninth in MVP voting with the World Series-winning Astros in 2017, Brock Holt posted a career-high 109 OPS+ with the Red Sox in 2018, and Enrique Hernández played a pivotal role with the Dodgers in each of 2020, 2024, and 2025.

In fact, both 2025 World Series rosters included utility players: Hernández and Ernie Clement with the Blue Jays. Clement’s 3.2 fWAR ranked fifth on the Blue Jays last season, while his elite play also led to him garnering the most All-Star votes of any player in the American League this year.

Given his reputation, it may be a shock to learn that Clement hasn’t been the most valuable utility man in the league this year; it’s been Ezequiel Durán of the Texas Rangers.

A former top prospect, Durán is finally breaking out in 2026, with his 3.4 fWAR ranking 28th among all major league players this season. That’s right, he’s been more valuable than Fernando Tatis Jr., Nick Kurtz, Ben Rice, and several other notable names.

With an above-average bat and elite defense while spending time at seven different positions, Durán is in the midst of a Zobrist-esque season. Quite frankly, he’s the best utility man nobody is talking about.

Stats were taken prior to play on August 17.

Career Trajectory

Durán began his professional career in 2017 after signing his first contract with the Yankees, which included a $10,000 signing bonus. He impressed with his bat and baserunning in a short stint at the Dominican Summer League, leading scouts to forecast that Durán could one day reach 20-20 potential (20 home runs, 20 stolen bases).

While he struggled in a disappointing 2018 season at the Appalachian League, Durán found success at every other stop in the minors with the Yankees and looked to be one of their most promising young prospects. By 2021, he ranked as high as 15th in their farm system.

That summer, alongside INF Josh Smith (now with the Blue Jays), RHP Glenn Otto, and 2B Trevor Hauver, Durán was dealt to the Rangers as one of the headlining prospects in the Yankees’ fateful Joey Gallo acquisition.

Durán quickly excelled at High-A with Texas, working his way up to Triple-A in the first half of 2022. At that point, he’d become Texas’ fourth-ranked prospect and ultimately earned a promotion to the major leagues that same June.

That season, Durán spent 58 games with the big-league club across two separate stints. Just 23 years old at the time, Durán accumulated 220 plate appearances and finished the year with 0.2 fWAR before tallying a breakout campaign the following season.

In 2023, the right-handed hitter appeared in 122 major league contests, where he sported a 111 wRC+ with 14 homers. He’d also swiped eight bags and posted 1.4 fWAR; it seemed the former top prospect’s potential was finally coming to fruition. Durán had improved upon his rookie season in barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and launch angle sweet-spot%, while posting a 90.1 mph average exit velocity.

The next two seasons were far more disappointing, with Durán bouncing between Triple-A and the majors throughout both years. While he excelled at Triple-A in both 2024 and 2025 — posting an .856 or higher OPS in both seasons — his demotion came as a result of inconsistency at the plate in the big leagues.

Durán’s wRC+ fell to 75 through 92 big-league games in 2024, and all the way to 57 through 90 contests last year. At the same time, his defense had been steadily improving, but not enough to offset the decline of his bat.

This year, though, it seems that Durán has finally put it all together. Now 27 years old, he’s in the midst of his best season to date and is among the most valuable position players in 2026.

Let’s dive into Durán’s breakout and highlight what we can expect to see going forward from the super-utility man.

Durán’s 2026 Breakout

This year, Durán has taken a massive step forward on both sides of the ball, which has earned him the status of the Rangers’ most valuable position player to this point.

On the defensive side of things, Durán has spent the majority of his time at shortstop (48 games), although he’s seen action at third base (36), second base (23), left field (19), right field (12), first base (1), and center field (1). He’s been average or better at each of those spots — except left field, where he’s accumulated -1 FRV — with the bulk of his defensive value coming at shortstop.

With just under a month and a half left in the season, Durán has already surpassed his career innings total at shortstop with 379 innings (previous career high was 307 innings in 2023), thanks to Corey Seager’s time spent on the IL and drastic improvement defensively.

During his 2023 season, Durán accumulated +2 OAA at the position, finishing with a -3 mark on the season as a result of poor play at third base and in the outfield. This year, however, the 27-year-old is already up to +11 OAA at shortstop and +12 on the year across the board, which ranks in the 98th percentile among all qualified defenders.

Durán’s growth hasn’t only come defensively, though, as he’s exceeding (ever so slightly) his 2023 paces offensively. Through 443 plate appearances to this point, the right-handed hitter is slashing .263/.317/.432 with 13 home runs, just one shy of his previous high of 14 in the aforementioned season.

He’s also recorded a 110 wRC+ thus far while sporting a .299 xwOBA, a grand improvement upon the previous two campaigns (.257 and .247, respectively). That increase can be explained largely by an increase in barrels and LA sweet-spot%.

This season, Durán’s barrel rate has risen to 6.3%, an improvement from his 2.6% mark last year. While he still ranks in the 34th percentile in that aspect, he’s paired his increase in barrels with a 5.3% jump in LA sweet-spot%, leaving him in the 69th percentile at 35.6%.

While there’s definitely still room for improvement, Durán’s .325 wOBA suggests that he isn’t getting terribly lucky, given the minimal gap between his xwOBA and wOBA. He also possesses 89th-percentile speed, which generally leads to an increase in sustainable BABIP as a result of beating out more ground balls (the baseline for the “neither bad nor good luck” hitter rests around .300; Durán rests at .322).

Perhaps the most important development in Durán’s approach has been his ability to do damage when thrown fastballs.

During his lackluster 2024 and 2025 seasons, Durán failed to record a .265 xwOBA or higher against four-seamers; he also failed to eclipse the .250 mark against sinkers in the former season, but did sport a .314 xwOBA against sinkers in the latter.

This season, he’s producing much better results, recording a .321 clip against four-seam fastballs and an even more impressive .360 xwOBA against sinkers.

To cut to the chase, Durán doesn’t seem to be walking a tightrope between his performance and a devastating collapse. His adjustments seem sustainable, and while the bat hasn’t fully grown into what he was once projected to be, it doesn’t really need to.

Durán’s elite defensive play has made him as valuable as ever, and it doesn’t seem to be in any danger of slowing down. All that’s needed from him is an average bat, and he’s had no problem meeting that benchmark in 2026.

That’s why he’s the best utility man nobody is talking about, and quite arguably the best in the game right now.