Jhoan Duran's Entrance And Fastball Are Fire And Philly Is Loving It
That would be Jhoan Duran, the new Phillies closer who enters the game amid gonging bells and flames and spiders in a ballpark that goes black. And that's not all: Thousands of fans whip out phone flashlights as the custom remix of "El Incomprendido" pulsates over Citizen Bank Park's massive sound system.
Come Monday morning, Duran's spectacular entrance (literally) is all Philly's obsessive sports fans wanted to talk about after the hulking righty closed out a pair of wins against the first-place Detroit Tigers this weekend.
Two words on Duran's first impression that he gave Citizens Bank Park — en fuega:
'This is unbelievable,' Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy said as Duran took the mound.
Duran threw four pitches to lock down the win on Friday. Then, two nights later on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, he repeated both the entrance and the dominance. He threw a 103.3-mph fastball that became the fastest pitch ever thrown at CBP. Tigers All-Star Riley Green fouled off that one (barely) and then struck out one pitch later on this 102.5-mph heater:
'You just know certain guys have a certain look about them, a swagger about them, and the song and the entrance doesn't hurt either,' said former Phillies closer and current analyst Ricky Bottalico on Unfiltered.
Duran looks like a savior of a bullpen that looked more like a shipwreck, with 16 blown saves and a 4.31 ERA. Jordan Romano flopped in his closer audition, and Jose Alvarado, who replaced Romano in the role, was suspended 80 games under baseball's performance-enhancing drug policy.
Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm teamed up to give some end-game stability, but neither Kerkering nor Strahm are bonafide closers that will have fans sticking around for the final three outs.
But Duran is must-see TV every time he heaves the ball. In addition to a 103-mph fastball, he throws a 98-mph splinker, a Ninja-worthy hybrid pitch that does this:
On Thursday — one day before the trade deadline — Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski sent two high-end prospects (Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait) to the Minnesota Twins to get Duran, who has 76 saves since 2022.
'They got the guy," former Phillies GM and current broadcaster Ruben Amaro said on The Phillies Show that dropped Monday.
Amaro added that Phillies fans "got to give Dave Dombrowski a ton of love' to land Duran without parting with one of the team's top-3 prospects, Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller or Justin Crawford.
And, yes, the love for Dombrowski will grow if Duran is closing out wins in Red October.
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