Tuesday night’s game featured a rare occurrence in Jhoan Duran blowing a save. The Phillies closer had been a perfect 16 for 16 in save opportunities until allowing the tying run and winning run to score in the ninth inning in Toronto without recording an out.
That appearance was already the fifth time in eight games in June to that point that the Phillies have used Duran in a game. In fact, he’s pitched in 17 of 33 possible games since returning from the injured list on May 5th. Of those 17 games,
eight were one run games. Five of the 17 were the second night of a back-to-back including last night. Then there are times such as last Sunday where Duran was warming up in a non-save situation but never entered the game. Those don’t count towards his innings total, but it’s still a time he gets hot and prepares as if he is coming into a game.
Needless to say, the Phillies recent proclivity for playing one run or low scoring games has led to Duran making a high volume of appearances. That and the relative shakiness of the leverage options behind him, chiefly Brad Keller and José Alvarado, and the sometimes inability of the middle relief to pitch in big leads like last night. As an elite closer, Duran is expected to be the workhorse anchor of the bullpen, and he has largely been true to that outside of the blip Tuesday night.
But that loss on Tuesday was the first time Duran has showed some telltale signs of fatigue. He struggled with command and his velocity was down a tick from his season average. An off day today should help get him some rest, but it’s something to keep an eye on, especially with a big series in Milwaukee on deck.
So, do you believe the Phillies are overworking Jhoan Duran? Obviously, the best remedy would be to score more runs so that not every game is a save situation. But still, should the Phillies try to get Duran some more rest?
