<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding a solid closer in baseball is one of the toughest things. It’s a gamble, and the teams have been addicted to trial and error. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Minnesota Twins have been winning on their gamble so far with pitcher Jhoan Duran. The potential trade candidate could assist contending clubs like the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-now-hold-important-tiebreakers-over-al-opponents">Toronto Blue Jays</a></span></p>
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<h3><strong>Scouting Report</strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran is a monstrous right-handed relief pitcher, towering at 6-foot-5 with a strong-powerful overall physical makeup, and a live arm. Duran, being a closer, works from the stretch with a fluid, repeated motion and delivery. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His overall reach to the plate is effortless due to his beneficial vertical limbs and loose hips down the slope of the mound. Duran has a very effective four-pitch mix with a palette of valuable options beyond his four-seam fastball. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The fastball averages at a 94.9 mph overall; however, the right-hander has heated that pitch to 104.8 mph, with more of a consistent 101 mph when in<a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/jhoan-duran-throws-fastest-pitches-in-mlb-in-2023"> triple-digits</a>. His fastball is live and electric, but not his most relied-on option, and it is his</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lowest put-away percentage of his arsenal, sitting at 20.6%. The heater catches the zone often with good command. His sweeper is his least-used pitch and is responsible for only three of his 52 strikeouts this season.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of two very dependable options is his split finger, which is his most-used pitch. The split finger has a 22.5% put-away rate with 12 strikeouts recorded. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran’s obvious out-pitch is the knuckle-curve. This put-away option holds a 30.3% put-away value, 23 strikeouts, a .222 batting average against and a 41.9% WHIFF percentage. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So what has Duran done with this highly effective repertoire? This season, he’s pitched in 48 games with 35 games finished, and 48 and 1/3 innings of work. He struck out 52 hitters, walked 16, and only allowed 10 earned runs. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran has 16 saves with only two blown opportunities. </span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="nl" dir="ltr">Jhoan Duran, 104mph Fastball and 99mph Splinker, Overlay. <a href="https://t.co/iwyQ1TIoZF">pic.twitter.com/iwyQ1TIoZF</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a href="https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1574951089723801602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3><strong>Contract situation </strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2024, Duran’s pre-arbitration was one year, $747,200. This year, he avoided arbitration, signing a one-year, $4,125,000 contract. The closer is expected to face arbitration again in 2026.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Twins are falling off, while being in fourth place in the American League Central and 10 games back of first. They are 5.5 games behind in the Wild Card standings.</span></p>
<h3><strong>How does Duran help the Blue Jays?</strong></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran fits perfectly into the back end of the Blue Jays bullpen. He would occupy the same role as a closer in Toronto. His lockdown abilities would be a huge add for a team potentially sniffing September and October baseball. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays will honour their current closer, Jeff Hoffman, who’s ranked fifth among MLB’s top closers. Hoffman’s success rate has been better, with 24 saves in five innings fewer than Duran’s. He can slot into the set-up role, providing more depth on the back end of relief or close if needed when Hoffman isn&#8217;t available. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays could use an extra stopper in all circumstances, especially in a postseason push and a postseason proper. </span></p>
<hr />
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding a solid closer in baseball is one of the toughest things. It’s a gamble, and the teams have been addicted to trial and error. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Minnesota Twins have been winning on their gamble so far with pitcher Jhoan Duran. The potential trade candidate could assist contending clubs like the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-now-hold-important-tiebreakers-over-al-opponents">Toronto Blue Jays</a></span>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="330" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="“web-content-promocard&quot;"></div>
<h3><strong>Scouting Report</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran is a monstrous right-handed relief pitcher, towering at 6-foot-5 with a strong-powerful overall physical makeup, and a live arm. Duran, being a closer, works from the stretch with a fluid, repeated motion and delivery. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">His overall reach to the plate is effortless due to his beneficial vertical limbs and loose hips down the slope of the mound. Duran has a very effective four-pitch mix with a palette of valuable options beyond his four-seam fastball. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The fastball averages at a 94.9 mph overall; however, the right-hander has heated that pitch to 104.8 mph, with more of a consistent 101 mph when in<a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/jhoan-duran-throws-fastest-pitches-in-mlb-in-2023"> triple-digits</a>. His fastball is live and electric, but not his most relied-on option, and it is his</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lowest put-away percentage of his arsenal, sitting at 20.6%. The heater catches the zone often with good command. His sweeper is his least-used pitch and is responsible for only three of his 52 strikeouts this season.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">One of two very dependable options is his split finger, which is his most-used pitch. The split finger has a 22.5% put-away rate with 12 strikeouts recorded. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran’s obvious out-pitch is the knuckle-curve. This put-away option holds a 30.3% put-away value, 23 strikeouts, a .222 batting average against and a 41.9% WHIFF percentage. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">So what has Duran done with this highly effective repertoire? This season, he’s pitched in 48 games with 35 games finished, and 48 and 1/3 innings of work. He struck out 52 hitters, walked 16, and only allowed 10 earned runs. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran has 16 saves with only two blown opportunities. </span>

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1574951089723801602
<h3><strong>Contract situation </strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2024, Duran’s pre-arbitration was one year, $747,200. This year, he avoided arbitration, signing a one-year, $4,125,000 contract. The closer is expected to face arbitration again in 2026.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Twins are falling off, while being in fourth place in the American League Central and 10 games back of first. They are 5.5 games behind in the Wild Card standings.</span>
<h3><strong>How does Duran help the Blue Jays?</strong></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Duran fits perfectly into the back end of the Blue Jays bullpen. He would occupy the same role as a closer in Toronto. His lockdown abilities would be a huge add for a team potentially sniffing September and October baseball. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays will honour their current closer, Jeff Hoffman, who’s ranked fifth among MLB’s top closers. Hoffman’s success rate has been better, with 24 saves in five innings fewer than Duran’s. He can slot into the set-up role, providing more depth on the back end of relief or close if needed when Hoffman isn't available. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blue Jays could use an extra stopper in all circumstances, especially in a postseason push and a postseason proper. </span>

<hr />

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