The Philadelphia Phillies gave Jhoan Duran a task that he had likely never encountered before.
It backfired, and now the Phillies’ season is on the brink.
Most baseball fans probably saw the ending on Tuesday, when Duran gave up a three-run, go-ahead home run to Austin Riley that served as the winning runs for the Atlanta Braves in a 5-3 victory to claim Game 1 of the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series.
But it’s what came before that homer, and the entire process that had Duran pitching in that moment, that could prove even more costly.
Duran wasn’t just pitching in the ninth inning, like closers often do. He had been called upon much earlier.
Phillies’ Jhoan Duran Decision
The Phillies called upon Duran to open the seventh inning.
And no, this wasn’t because they had another pitcher behind him. He was going to try and get a three-inning save.
The Phillies were clinging to a 3-2 lead. They needed the most dominant pitcher in their bullpen to make it hold up, even though his job description has never before included the idea of a three-inning save.
Duran’s superpower is his hard-sinking pitches that are among the fastest in baseball. They’re particularly effective when he can let it fly in one-inning appearances.
And sure, in the baseball postseason in recent years, teams have found all sorts of ways to push their best relievers in ways that they never would in the regular season.
But to ask Duran to go three innings for the save, after using just starter Jesus Luzardo and one reliever before him, definitely had the potential to work out poorly.
There’s no way to know for sure if Duran was pitching a little differently knowing he had nine outs to get.
But he allowed two baserunners, and then the homer to Riley on a pitch that he left up in the zone, and it cost the Phillies the game.
Now, they’ll have to win two in a row in Atlanta to advance to the next round, or their season will be over.
And they’ve got a big Duran question hanging over Game 2.
Can Jhoan Duran Pitch Game 2?
Duran will likely be available again in Game 2, because it’ll be all hands on deck with the season on the line.
But the three-inning idea certainly put that at risk. In terms of workload it’s actually better that Duran blew the save in the eighth instead of the ninth, because he didn’t have to get a third inning’s worth of pitches.
Still, he throw 27 pitches, most of them high stress, and there’s very little chance Philadelphia could bring him in that early on Wednesday.
It was a calculated risk, but it didn’t pay off, and now Philadelphia needs to figure out a rescue mission for its season.
Phillies’ Jhoan Duran Mistake Could Cost Entire Season