Philadelphia Phillies closer Jhoan Duran secured his 17th save in 18 chances on Wednesday night, working out of a ninth-inning jam to preserve a 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
The appearance marked the third consecutive night interim manager Don Mattingly called upon the right-hander, a usage pattern previously avoided by former manager Rob Thomson to prevent reliever fatigue.
Duran allowed two hits during the frame but lowered his season ERA to 1.99, rebounding from his first blown save of the year on Tuesday night when Toronto secured a walk-off victory.
The high-intensity reliever threw 10 pitches on Wednesday and a total of 27 pitches over the three-game series, utilizing his recovery routines in the training room and his hotel to manage the heavy workload.
Duran Embraces Regular Workload
"I need to be on the mound every day," said Duran. The flame-throwing right-hander noted that frequent mound appearances increase his overall comfort level during games.
"If I feel good, I want to be in the game," said Duran. "So that's me.
The more I throw in the game, I feel more comfortable. I feel way better."
Duran dismissed the impact of Tuesday's blown save on his mindset, stating that he remains focused entirely on the present rather than past outcomes.
"Yesterday is yesterday," said Duran. "I was focusing on today, not yesterday.
Yesterday is just the past for me."
Mattingly stated that the coaching staff determines Duran's availability by listening to the reliever's daily physical feedback after he plays pregame catch.
"Jho's been pretty good about telling us," said Mattingly. "There's been times when we thought he'd be available, and he says he needed a day.
Wednesday was not one of those days, and he was adamant, and we kind of go with that."
Phillies teammates expressed full confidence in their closer, who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins on July 30, 2025, to stabilize the back end of the Philadelphia bullpen.
"We got all the confidence in the world in him," said Kyle Schwarber, Phillies outfielder.
Starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo praised Duran's ability to rebound from an unfortunate performance on Tuesday night, labeling him a workhorse with elite pitching tools.
"Insanely impressive.
His stuff is always elite, and he's a workhorse, so we love having him in our corner," said Luzardo.
"Seeing him bounce back after Tuesday night, which I would call it unfortunate."
Luzardo added further context regarding the quality of Duran's pitches following the final out against Toronto.
"His stuff is second to none. And I think that that's why he's the best closer in the game," said Luzardo.
