FORT MYERS, Florida. – Jhoan Duran is 6-5 and 230 pounds. He is handsome and broad-shouldered. Looks like he should have a baseball in his hand.
And, when he does, just wait for the right-hander to throw it.
His fastball often registers 100 miles per hour and he has a potentially devastating complementary throw. It seems inevitable that his talents will allow him to flourish in the major leagues. And that moment is expected to come on Thursday when he makes the Opening Day Twins roster as a reliever. Over the weekend, Duran learned that he had made the team.
Even with his immense skills, Duran, born in Esperanza, Dominican Republic, didn’t take anything for granted. Many Latin American players focus on baseball and stop going to school once they sign with a team. Major League Baseball is full of players from these countries who don’t have a high school diploma. Despite all his promises, Duran knew that a major league career was not promised to anyone.
“The reason was very emotional and important to me because there are players who, when they sign, focus primarily on baseball,” Duran said through interpreter Cibney Bello. “Today you could be here, but you never know what might happen later.
“It was a plan B for me because baseball doesn’t work, I can go work somewhere else and have a different future than baseball.”
Duran started his high school equivalency certificate with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Eduardo Escobar in July 2018. The twins moved to a new facility in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic with the Phillies in 2017, and they decided to expand their educational opportunities to offer more than English lessons.
Duran, who had been released without any backup plan, began attending classes at the Twins’ Dominican facility and continued working towards that certificate. Her favorite subject? Good.
His last test came in October 2019, after his first full season in the Twins organization. And he was ready for it.
“I once gave the test back to the teacher,” Duran said. “I knew I had succeeded.”
There was an email informing him that he had done just that.
“Mom and dad were very happy,” Duran said, “because that’s the first thing they mentioned, that education always comes first, not sports.”
It’s time to go to school on Duran’s main complementary pitch, a split-finger/lead hybrid called the “spinker.” He grabs the ball like a splitter and throws it like a fastball. It hit 97 mph on the radar gun last week with the terrain; in the same inning, his best fastball reached 101.
“There are pitches that only one person has in the game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “And sometimes they’re ultra-successful, and you can lean on them.”
Duran was 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA in five games for the Class AAA Saints last season before being shut down in June with a sprained elbow. He never pitched the rest of the season, but he rehabilitated and was untouchable in camp.
He pitched six scoreless innings in spring training games, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight. He also throws a change and a curveball, throws that will be needed if the Twins decide to make him a starter again in the future. That’s a big if.
Duran, 24, has never pitched more than 115 innings in the minors, leading to a debate that, at his age, the ability to rack up innings to pitch as a starter for a full season is past. Relief – probably in several rounds at first – will be his role.
Many thought his major league would start as a starter, but outside forces decided otherwise.
For now, Duran is a very intriguing back-up option — as the Twins could use that speed coming out of the bullpen. His fastball is sizzling. His slinker sparkles. The Twins need a big arm in their bullpen, and they think it’s Duran’s time.
Duran might have a backup plan if baseball doesn’t work out. But, at this point, everyone wants to see what Plan A looks like.
