Duran earned his second save of the season in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the White Sox, allowing one run on a hit and two walks while striking out a batter.
Duran was staked to a three-run lead after Trevor Larnach homered in the eighth, but he nearly imploded. The White Sox loaded the bases after a single and two walks to begin the inning, but Duran responded with a strikeout and groundout before Byron Buxton saved his bacon with a spectacular diving catch on a potential extra-base hit by Andrew Benintendi to end the game. Tuesday was Duran's first outing allowing a run since his season debut, as he's pitched to an excellent 1.74 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 11 appearances thus far.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Holds on for first save of 2025
Rotowire
Duran picked up the save Tuesday against the Mets after allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. He struck out one.
A throwing error by Willi Castro set the table for the Mets, later enabling a Luisangel Acuna single to bring the tying run to the plate in a 6-3 game. Duran was still ultimately able to fan Francisco Lindor to earn his first save of the campaign. The hard-throwing right-hander remains the favorite for saves over Griffin Jax in the Minnesota bullpen, with Duran logging a 1.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 6:3 K:BB over 7.1 innings to begin the season.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Sharp despite lack of save chances
Rotowire
Duran threw a perfect inning while striking out one in Sunday's 5-1 win over Detroit. He has a 1.42 ERA with five strikeouts in 6.1 innings but doesn't have a save chance.
He was lined up to get a save opportunity, but the Twins scored in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Duran a four-run lead to protect in the ninth inning. The Twins do not have a save yet as a team this season. Duran's velocity is down slightly this season (99.9 mph average fastball from 100.5 mph last season), but he's still been very effective. He's set to get the bulk of save chances for the Twins, though manager Rocco Baldelli will likely play matchups and use Duran in the eighth inning at times with Griffin Jax pitching the ninth inning.
Twins' Jhoan Duran: Not worried about drop in velocity
Rotowire
Duran's fastball velocity has been down this spring, but he says it's by design, Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "I focus more on my mechanics and my pitches' movement," Duran said this week. "I don't need to throw really hard right now. Maybe in the [regular season] I throw harder, or maybe not."
Duran "only" reached 100.8 mph with his fastball Saturday while tossing a scoreless inning against the Red Sox and striking out one. That's in contrast to the 102.5 mph he hit in his first spring outing of 2023, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. The decline doesn't appear to be a major concern, as his fastball is still elite and he could just be easing into spring training as a more established veteran. Duran is set to return as Minnesota's closer, but manager Rocco Baldelli often deploys his bullpen without regard for the save statistic, meaning Griffin Jax and others will get save chances if matchups call for Duran to be used earlier in the game.
Twins' Jhoan Duran: Gets $4.125 million from Minnesota
Rotowire
The Twins and Duran avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.125 million contract Thursday, Darren Wolfson of Channel 5 Saint Paul reports.
Duran had an elevated 3.64 ERA but a quality 66:15 K:BB over 54.1 innings of work with the Twins in 2024. He is at the top of the pecking order for saves again in 2025, although manager Rocco Baldelli isn't shy about using other relievers to close games on occasion.
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