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Phillies' Jhoan Duran: Looks sharp in Grapefruit League
Rotowire
Duran threw a clean inning during Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles. He struck out two.
Duran is now up to three scoreless frames with six punchouts and no walks during spring training. Following a trade away from the Twins at least year's deadline, the hard-throwing right-hander is all set to resume his duties as Philadelphia's closer to begin 2026. Duran delivered a 2.18 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and a sparkling 27:1 K:BB over 20.2 regular-season innings for the Phillies a year ago, successfully converting 16 of his 19 save opportunities.
The Phillies and Duran avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $7.5 million contract Thursday, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Duran notched a career-high 32 saves in 2025, posting a 2.06 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 80:19 K:BB over 70 regular-season innings between the Twins and Phillies. The hard-throwing reliever should be one of the top closers in fantasy baseball again in 2026.
Duran earned the save in Friday's 3-1 win over the Twins, allowing two hits and no walks with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning.
Duran needed 23 pitches to escape with the save, stranding two runners in scoring position with a game-ending flyout. The 27-year-old has been shaky of late, giving up runs in three of his past five appearances with just one clean outing in that span. For the season, he's 32-for-37 in save chances with a 2.06 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 80:19 K:BB across 70 innings.
Duran struck out one and gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning Tuesday to blow his fifth save of the season in a 6-5 extra-innings loss to the Marlins.
Cristopher Sanchez blanked Miami for seven innings and handed a 3-0 lead off to his bullpen, but David Robertson gave up two runs in the eighth before Duran served up a game-tying solo shot to Heriberto Hernandez. Duran's blown two of his last three save chances and has now allowed runs in three of his last four appearances, an ominous sign for Phillies fans traumatized by years of bullpen collapses no matter what name is on the back of the jersey. The 27-year-old flamethrower still sports an outstanding 2.29 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 25:1 K:BB over 19.2 innings since being acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline.
Duran pitched a perfect inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 9-6 win over the Dodgers.
Duran took a blown save Monday, but he was sharper Tuesday, throwing just 12 pitches (seven strikes) to retire the side. He's up to 31 saves on the year, 15 of which have come in a Phillies uniform since he was traded from the Twins. The closer has added a 1.88 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 75:19 K:BB through 67 innings between the two teams this season, with an even better 1.53 ERA and 0.79 WHIP over 17.2 innings for Philadelphia.
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