It seems like Jhoan Duran and the Phillies have dodged a major bullet after the closer had to be carted off the field during Friday’s game. Duran was on the right ankle by a Paul DeJong comebacker in the ninth inning of yesterday’s 6-2 win over the Nationals, leaving the reliever in some obvious discomfort as he briefly tried to walk off the pain. The cart was summoned as a precautionary measure, and Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote last night that Duran was able to freely walk through the clubhouse en route to the trainer’s room.
The Phillies revealed that Duran’s x-rays were negative, and the closer himself delivered another positive update to Lauber today, saying he felt “100 percent.” Lauber noted that Duran wasn’t even walking with a limp. It doesn’t seem like an IL stint will be required, and the right-hander may not need more than a day or two (if that) before he’s able to get back onto the mound.
Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline, Duran came at a high price, as the Phillies had to give up big league-ready starter Mick Abel and top catching prospect Eduardo Tait. The Phils felt the cost was worth it to land a controllable (though 2027) closer, and the early returns have been stellar — Duran is a perfect 4-for-4 in save chances since joining the Phillies, and he has allowed only two hits over four scoreless innings of work. For the 2025 season as a whole, Duran has a 1.86 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate, and 8.2% walk rate across 53 1/3 combined innings with Minnesota and Philadelphia.
If Duran has indeed avoided the injury bug, it sets the stage for (knock on wood) a healthy weekend for the Phillies as two prominent players are set to be activated from the injured list on Sunday. Manager Rob Thomson said earlier this week that Aaron Nola would be return from the 60-day IL to start Sunday’s game, and the skipper told The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes and other reporters today that Alec Bohm would also be activated from the 10-day IL to face Washington tomorrow.
Bohm has missed four weeks dealing with a fractured left rib. The injury was suffered a week prior to Bohm’s IL placement when he was hit by a pitch, and after using the All-Star break to try and heal up, Bohm reaggravated his rib problem in the first game of the second half. He started a Triple-A rehab assignment last Sunday, and served as both a third baseman and DH over five games with Lehigh Valley.
Bohm has a 98 wRC+ and a modest .278/.324/.391 slash line over 383 plate appearances in 2025, as he is still trying to fully shake off a brutal start to his season. After posting a .513 OPS in his first 126 PA, Bohm hit a much more palatable .309/.362/.455 over his next 257 PA before hitting the injured list. He’ll return to his usual third base position for the Phillies, which should push Edmundo Sosa and Otto Kemp back to their utility roles.
Nola will be making his first start in over three months, as he was initially sidelined by a sprained ankle back in mid-May. However, it was revealed in June that Nola was also dealing with a stress reaction in his right rib cage, which soon led to a move to the 60-day IL. This was only Nola’s third IL stint of the last nine seasons, and his prior two IL stints lasted only around seven weeks combined, speaking to Nola’s durability.
Trying to pitch through his ankle injury proved problematic for Nola, who allowed 13 earned runs over his last 8 2/3 innings and two starts before he succumbed to the injured list. This boosted his ERA up to 6.16 over 49 2/3 frames, and the hope is that the long layoff can allow Nola to look more like his old self down the stretch run.
The right-hander’s return also has a larger impact on the Phillies’ rotation as a whole. Thomson said the team will operate with a six-man rotation for at least one week, as the rest of the pitching staff (Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Jesus Luzardo, and Taijuan Walker) has pitched so well that nobody deserves a demotion to the bullpen. While someone will have to be moved to relief work eventually, the Phillies will try to get creative in keeping their starters’ arms fresh for the playoffs, whether that means extra rest, skipped starts, or using two starters at once in a piggyback fashion.