In short order, Duran cementing himself as an all-time Phils bullpen arm

This story was excerpted from Paul Casella’s Phillies Beat newsletter. This edition was written by Theo DeRosa. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It didn’t take Phillies closer Jhoan Duran very long to shut the door on the Nationals on Wednesday in Washington.

On the mound for the bottom of the ninth after the Phillies’ latest improbable comeback in the top of the inning, Duran made quick work of the Nats to seal his 19th save of the season. He struck out Nasim Nuñez looking, James Wood swinging and Luis García Jr. looking to preserve a 5-4 victory.

It was the latest stellar outing from Duran, who has been exactly what the Phillies hoped for after sending right-hander Mick Abel and catching prospect Eduardo Tait to the Twins to acquire Duran before the 2025 Trade Deadline. With Wednesday’s perfect outing, Duran has a 1.90 ERA with 35 saves in 39 save opportunities as a Phillie.

He’s been in red-and-white pinstripes for less than a calendar year, but Duran is well on his way to cementing a legacy as one of the best relievers in franchise history.

While he still has a ways to go to catch Jonathan Papelbon for the Phillies’ career saves record of 123 (since saves became an official statistic in 1969), Duran is already inside the top 20, ranking 18th, three saves below teammate José Alvarado (38). If he continues his 38-save pace this year, he’ll finish 2026 in 12th place on the franchise leaderboard at 54. By the time his contract is up after the 2027 season, he could be just outside the top five.

Most career saves, franchise history
Since saves became an official statistic in 1969

1) Jonathan Papelbon, 123
2) Jose Mesa, 112
3) Steve Bedrosian, 103
4) Mitch Williams, 102
5) Brad Lidge, 100
…
18) Jhoan Duran, 35

The 28-year-old Duran likely won’t break into that group unless he and the Phillies can agree on a contract extension, which will be a crucial development next season. But for now, Philadelphia is enjoying the talent Duran brings to the table night in and night out.

Duran has a 1.69 ERA in 2026 and has converted 19 of 20 save opportunities, with his lone misstep coming June 9 in Toronto. Of the 102 batters he has faced, he’s struck out 43 of them -- a 42.2% K rate that ranks third among pitchers who have faced at least 50 hitters.

With a four-seam fastball averaging 100.2 mph (tied for second among qualifying hurlers) and a “splinker” averaging 97.5 mph, Duran is hard to hit. Compared to fastballs thrown at a similar velocity and from a similar release point, Duran's heater carries an extra 5.4 inches of arm-side run -- 11th among qualifying pitchers.

Batters seeking a high-speed offering have been flummoxed by his change-of-pace secondary pitches: They’ve missed 13 times on 19 swings against his sweeper (an absurd 68.4% whiff rate) and 10 times on 17 swings against his knuckle curve (58.8% whiff rate).

Overall, he ranks third in MLB (min. 200 swings) with a 41% whiff rate, behind only the Padres’ Mason Miller (49.4%) and the Mariners’ Andrés Muñoz (42%). He also gets hitters to expand outside the strike zone, ranking in the 94th percentile in MLB in chase rate at 36.6%.

When opponents do manage to guess right against Duran, they can square him up. Entering Wednesday, he ranked in just the second percentile among qualifiers in average exit velocity allowed (92.2 mph) and hard-hit rate (50%). But simply put, that doesn’t happen often. Of the 20 hits he’s allowed this season, 16 have been singles, and only one was a home run.

Duran’s ability to get strikeouts and limit extra-base hits has kept his ERA so low -- it’s 2.37 in his five-year career and under 2.00 with the Phillies. At 1.90, Duran owns the fourth-best ERA in any pitcher’s first 51 games with Philadelphia since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913.

His ability to convert saves reliably is up there, too. Duran’s 35-for-39 (89.7%) save percentage is the second best among Phillies pitchers with 25 or more save opportunities with the club, trailing only Doug Jones (27-for-29, 93.1%).

Like all pitchers, Duran’s value is contingent on whether he can stay healthy, but he has been relatively durable. Since reaching the Majors in 2022, he’s been on the injured list only twice, both times with oblique strains. Neither required a particularly lengthy absence.

If he ends up in a Phillies uniform for the long term, Duran has every chance to rewrite the record books. If not, the talented reliever’s stint in Philadelphia will likely be remembered well regardless.