Jhoan Duran on being a Phillie: ‘I know here, I have a chance to win a World Series’
PHILADELPHIA — For the first time in a while, the Phillies have a set closer. Acquired on Wednesday via trade from the Minnesota Twins, 27-year-old right-hander Jhoan Duran will man the ninth inning for Rob Thomson’s club.
“He’s really good,” Thomson said of the Phillies’ new closer. “He’s one of the best in the game, if he’s not the best.”
Duran has appeared in 49 games this season, saving 16 with a 2.01 ERA. He has a 25.7% strikeout rate and 64.4% ground-ball rate. Hitters have hit .219 against Duran with a .553 OPS. Duran has a 2.47 ERA and 74 saves as a big leaguer.
Perhaps the best part of Duran’s game is how well he limits home runs; he’s allowed just one this year. For his career, he’s allowed 0.7 home runs per nine innings pitched.
In terms of what he throws, Duran averages just north of 100 mph with his fastball. He throws a splinker, a pitch blended between a splitter and a sinker. That offering sits in the high 90s. He also throws a pair of breaking balls.
Having someone like Duran — a true ninth-inning, shutdown arm — has impacts beyond the final inning of a game. It allows Thomson to move everybody else in the bullpen around. It creates more depth.
“It just moves everybody up an inning,” Thomson said about Duran’s presence in the closer’s role. “We’ve got (Matt) Strahm and (Orion Kerkering) as true setup guys. We’ve got (Tanner) Banks still. We’ve got (Jordan) Romano and (Max) Lazar.”
The Phillies also have two relievers, David Robertson and Jose Alvarado, coming, too. Robertson can be added to the active roster next week. He’s scheduled to pitch twice this weekend at Triple-A, per Thomson. Alvarado’s return will come in a few weeks.
“It’s shaping up pretty good,” Thomson said about his bullpen.
Thomson doesn’t envision Duran pitching in any other inning than the ninth. At least not right now. He may call upon the right-hander for a multi-out save at some point. Duran’s pitched more than one inning twice so far this year, throwing two innings on July 7 and July 22.
Duran’s name popped up in plenty of trade rumors ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. He tried not to think too much about the possibility of being traded. He was “sad” that the Twins traded him, but he’s not sad he landed in Philadelphia.
“I feel so excited right now,” Duran said about being in Philadelphia. “I feel great. It’s an honor to be a part of this team.”
As the Phillies’ closer, Duran’s entrance will be special at Citizens Bank Park. That’s nothing new for him. He had a special entrance while in Minnesota, which circulated on social media in recent days. Fans are excited to see what it’ll look like the first time he enters a home game as a Phillie. Duran got a sneak peek ahead of Friday’s game.
While Duran was going through his pre-game routine on the field, and when he was speaking with reporters in the dugout, video boards at Citizens Bank Park displayed what will appear during his entrance. There’s fire. There are spiders, too — he picked up the nickname “Durantula” while with the Twins.
“I can’t explain that,” Duran said about what it might feel like the first time his entrance is played in front of a filled stadium. “Right now, I can see the fire (on the video boards) around the stadium. I want to see it when a lot of people are here.”
Duran has postseason experience. He earned a pair of saves for the Twins in the 2023 postseason, appearing in four games between the American League Wild Card Series and Division Series. He allowed no runs on two hits with six strikeouts in five innings that October.
The Phillies are in the thick of the National League playoff picture with two months left in the regular season. Their chances of playing in October again are high. Duran will have to help the Phillies get there first. But he understands what he has a chance of doing in Philadelphia.
“I know here, I have a chance to win a World Series. And I want it.”