With the playoff race heating up, every win matters — especially against other teams that are also vying for postseason positioning. On Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Phillies earned a 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners — keeping their lead over the New York Mets in the NL East at 5.5 games. It was trade deadline acquisition Jhoan Duran who closed things out for the Phillies — pitching a clean, three-up, three-down inning with one strikeout.
In fact, Duran saved his best for last against Mariners star and 2025 Home Run Derby champion Cal Raleigh. He sat down Raleigh, he of the 47 home runs and .951 OPS on the season, in three pitches — all of them being over four-seam fastballs that clocked in at over 100 miles per hour. Quite literally, the Phillies closer blew Raleigh away.
But it seems as though Raleigh wasn’t the only catcher that Duran left puzzled. After the game, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto dropped a hilarious remark in his interview with reporters, agreeing that his hand hurts whenever he’s catching heaters from Duran.
“Yes [it does hurt when I catch Duran’s pitches]. The splitter, if I don’t catch it right, it gets me pretty good. It moves, it does something a little different every time. That’s why it’s such an elite pitch. Sometimes it moves straight horizontal, goes straight down. Sometimes it even cuts,” Realmuto told reporters, via @aokstott on X (formerly Twitter).
“Does your hand hurt at all when you catch Duran?”
“Yes.” pic.twitter.com/0g5uM56LJA
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Indeed, being a catcher can sometimes be a rather unforgiving task, having to crouch behind the plate, run the risk of getting hit by backswings from opposing hitters, or, in the Phillies catcher’s case, get hit by friendly fire depending on how the pitch is delivered.
But Realmuto and the Phillies cannot be any happier that they have Duran on their side instead of having to deal with his blisteringly fast pitches from the plate.
Jhoan Duran makes instant impact in Phillies uniform
Heading into the Phillies’ Tuesday night clash against the Mariners, Duran hasn’t yet allowed a single run to cross the plate for his new team. And that trend of perfection continued after he shut the door on Seattle in Philly’s 6-4 win.
Duran’s strikeout rate hasn’t been the best through his first 5.2 innings of work in a Phillies uniform. But he’s getting the job done regardless, playing off of his elite, plus-plus four-seamer by utilizing his nasty splitter and even throwing a curveball here and there — with Realmuto and company helping get the best out of the elite closer.
