MLB fans amazed by Minnesota Twins reliever Jhoan Duran’s terrifying velocity: "Did Duran start the wildfires?" "104 up and in, my god"
Minnesota Twins closer Jhoan Duran is continuing to turn heads around the league with his easy, consistent heat.
Duran came on in the eighth inning to face the heart of the Milwaukee Brewers order in Wednesday's 4-2 victory. He faced Brewers slugger Willy Adames and did not mess around.
The second-year major leaguer struck Adames out in short order, featuring throws of 103, 104, and 103 mph during the at-bat. The 104-mph pitch had an inward trail on it, streaking past Adames' wrists as he did his best not to run screaming out of the batter's box.
Jhoan Duran, 103, 104 and 103mph. ⛽️ https://t.co/mSjJzrk1Yx
Jhoan Duran became the Minnesota Twins' main closer this season after a phenomenal rookie campaign in 2022. He has already matched last season's save total with eight — even though Griffin Jax claimed the save by pitching the ninth in Wednesday's win.
Duran is one of MLB's closers that doesn't always pitch the ninth, rather comes on to face the toughest hitters in the opposing lineup during the late innings.
In 81 total big league games, Duran has posted a 1.73 ERA with 124 strikeouts in 93.2 innings.
Here are the Twitter reactions to Jhoan Duran's velocity this season:
@PitchingNinja The most insane thing about watching him pitch, is how "easy" he makes 103mph look.
It looks like if he really wanted, he could reach back for 105 or 106.
the 8 fastest pitches thrown in the big leagues so far this season have all been thrown by jhoan duran twitter.com/PitchingNinja/…
@PitchingNinja Did Duran start the wildfires?
The toughest thing for Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is not overusing his young, dominant closer. As he told the Minneapolis StarTribune about Jhoan Duran:
"We're not going to leave him out there to throw an exorbitant amount of pitches. So he has to be efficient enough, and be feeling good and rested enough, and in the right game situation. When that plays out, we'll be open to it. But the vast majority of the time, I would prefer not to."
@PitchingNinja My god, 104 up and in would scare the heck out of me lol
I would’ve died from a heart attack on the 2nd pitch 🤯 twitter.com/pitchingninja/…
@PitchingNinja 104 up and in, my god.
Baldelli said that Duran is very straightforward in his approach and doesn't get caught up in the little things that could complicate his role. He told the StarTribune:
"One of the great things about Duran, on top of his performance, [is] he's really good about just simplifying what he has to do. He's not going to get in his own head, worrying about all kinds of things. If we check with him and he's good, he says 'I'm good.' And then we say, 'OK, we'll send you back out there'. And he goes, OK."
@PitchingNinja Big balls on the batter not bail on that 3rd FB after taking the 2nd up and in.
I would’ve just walked to the dugout after that 2nd pitch twitter.com/pitchingninja/…
@PitchingNinja Does he have a higher chance of hurting his arm throwing that fast every outing? Serious question
Throwing 100 mph-plus used to be a rarity, but more and more pitchers are able to toss triple digits these days. But velocity does not always equal success.
What are pitchers gonna look like in 20 years twitter.com/PitchingNinja/…
Minnesota Twins landed Jhoan Duran via trade
Jhoan Duran came to the Minnesota Twins in a 2018 trade that sent third baseman Eduardo Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona had signed Duran as an international free agent in 2014.