The Red Sox sent outfielder Jarren Duran to Worcester on Tuesday night. Elise Amendola/Associated Press

The Red Sox still view Jarren Duran as a big piece of their future, but that time is not right now.

As he continues to go through expected struggles and with a roster crunch in the outfield, the Red Sox optioned Duran back to Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday to make room for starting pitcher Tanner Houck on the active roster. Duran, Boston’s top outfield prospect, posted a slash of .221/.236/.372 through 89 plate appearances over his first 27 games. He walked just twice with 33 strikeouts.

There was a boost of excitement as the Red Sox finally promoted Duran after the All-Star break, but there was always likely to be growing pains for the rookie outfielder in his first major-league stint. Manager Alex Cora said the timing was hard for Duran as the Red Sox faced a lot of left-handed pitching upon his callup.

Now, with Kyle Schwarber in the fold in the outfield, playing time was going to be scarce for Duran. The Red Sox think he’ll benefit from consistent at-bats back in the minors.

“It was a good learning experience to be around him and be around us and understand what it takes to be a big leaguer,” Cora said. “He’s not the first promising rookie to get sent down. He’s not the first promising rookie to get sent down in this organization. He’s not the first outfielder that’s very fast that gets sent down in the middle of the season. We’ll be patient. There are a few things he has to work on defensively, running the bases, bunting a little bit more. We gave him the homework and he’ll work on it and we’ll see where he takes it.

“As far as the other stuff, the way he goes about his business, it’s amazing. Obviously it’s not easy to come up here. I think it’s a lot harder this year because of the lack of repetitions last year but he’s a guy we really like. We still like him the same way we like him when we called him up on July 15 and somebody we trust.”

Cora was uncertain if Duran would be back in Boston at some point this season, but right now, they think this is the best move for him in his continued development.

“It’s not easy just to come here and produce and obviously where we’re at roster-wise it made sense for him to go down there and get at-bats,” Cora said. “But there’s a balance. If we’re winning here, trying to do everything possible to win here, but at the same time if the roster moves a certain way and he’s not going to get at-bats the best thing for him is to get at-bats down there and keeping working on the things he was working on here.

“He’ll be OK. We cannot make any promises that he’ll be here in 10 days or 15 days, whatever, but one thing for sure, he’s part of the future.”

DESPITE A 15.19 ERA in August after another blown save in Monday’s win, it appears Cora will stay with Matt Barnes as his closer. The manager pointed to a misplay by Travis Shaw at first base that led to the game-tying double that Barnes gave up.

“Of course we’re not pleased we gave up the lead and he’s been having struggles,” Cora said of Barnes. “But at the end of the day, his stuff is still there. I do believe you can ask Travis, we don’t make a play. Sometimes that’s what it takes. You make one play and he feels comfortable and he feels good about himself.

“But the fact is that he has been struggling and the fastball is not playing as it was earlier in the season and that’s different. But he’s still going to get big outs for us late in games.”