The Philadelphia Phillies are getting their closer back very soon.
Jhoan Duran is close to returning from the injured list after reaching triple digits with his fastball during a bullpen session in Miami over the weekend.
The Phillies (14-20) have won five of six under interim manager Don Mattingly, with a pair of walk-off wins over the San Francisco Giants and two wins in their first three games against the Miami Marlins.
Duran, who has five saves and has not pitched since April 11 due to an oblique strain, has given up just one earned run in 6 2/3 innings this year.
The Phillies are 7-13 and have just one since Duran went on the IL. The bullpen is 3-5 with three blown saves and a 4.59 ERA in that span.
The Phillies are Getting Jhoan Duran Back Soon
Not only is Duran nearly back to 100%, but the Phillies are leaning toward him not making a rehab stint in the minor leagues, according to Mattingly.
“Could you hit him at 100? I don’t know,” Mattingly said when asked about if Duran would need to pitch in the minors before coming back to the big club according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “It’s something we’ll talk about.”
Duran is not dealing with an arm injury and does not need to be built up the way a starting pitcher would. So the fact he is hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, and is already eligible to be activated from the IL, could lead to him being available for the Phillies’ home stand this week against the Athletics and Colorado Rockies.
The Phillies Need Jhoan Duran
The Phillies are a completely different team without their All-Star closer. They went 35-19 after acquiring Duran from the Minnesota Twins in 2025 but have also proven lost without him in their bullpen this season.
Brad Keller has the lone save for Philadelphia, which came Friday in Miami, and he has allowed at least one earned run in three of his past four outings. The Phillies have spared him a loss by rallying in the ninth twice in that span.
But Philadelphia has proven before, and seems to be again, that a slow start isn’t disqualifying from playoff — or even World Series contention. The Phillies’ starting pitchers have the best ERA in the NL (2.18), and third-best in the majors, with four quality starts since April 27 — a day before Thomson was fired.
The Phillies were 22-29 when Thomson took over for Joe Girardi back in 2022 and ran all the way to the Fall Classic before the Houston Astros took them down in six games.
But to have a chance at a similar turn around, the Phillies need Duran to be every bit as dominant as he has since coming over from Minnesota for Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait.
Duran has 21 saves in 30 appearances since joining the Phillies and has given them some badly needed stability for the ninth inning They are 7-4 in one-run games this season, with four of those wins coming before Duran hit the IL, and will need him healthy to remain above .500 in close games.
Phillies Get Great News on Jhoan Duran’s Return From Injury