Twins' Jhoan Duran feeling good, but 'no timeline' yet for return

Duran's velocity was down during a rehab outing Tuesday night, but he's feeling good.

Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) pitches in the in the ninth inning against the Houston Astros during game four of the ALDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs at Target Field in Minneapolis on Oct. 11, 2023. / Matt Blewett / USA TODAY Sports

Twins closer Jhoan Duran said he’s feeling good despite his velocity being down during his first rehab outing with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints Tuesday night. Duran allowed two runs on four hits, but he did fan three during his 27-pitch, one-inning outing. 

Duran said he was throwing "everything under the sun" during the outing and wasn't concerned about the hits given up as he works his way back. Duran averaged 98.1 mph on his fastball and topped out at 99 mph, according to the St. Paul Saints account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. That’s down from his 101.8 mph average on his four-seamer last season. 

“I think it’s the first outing, so maybe on Friday it’ll be more better,” Duran said. 

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli also wasn’t concerned about the outing and said Duran’s stuff was normal when he threw a 21-pitch bullpen last Friday. 

“I think he’s fine and I think he’s probably just getting settled back in at the mound. He also threw a bunch of pitches in the outing, more than you would probably think a lot of rehab starts would be, but it’s good for him,” Baldelli said. “… I’m not concerned about the outing one bit.” 

Baldelli said Duran doesn’t have a “hard timeline” to return, the hope is to just get him feeling good and they’ll take it one outing at a time. Duran said, “Maybe I need Friday and that’s it, maybe not, I need to see.” It’ll depend on how he’s feeling moving forward. 

Lopez OK

Twins starter Pablo Lopez told reporters Tuesday night after the Twins’ 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox that he felt OK despite his velocity tapering during a long fourth inning. Lopez went just four innings and allowed four hits and three runs while fanning six. 

Baldelli said on Wednesday that Lopez said he was feeling physically fine. 

“When I had last spoken with him, he had said, ‘No, I’m fine, just not my day,’” Baldelli said. “Basically just didn’t feel great, but all that said, we’ll keep an eye on him like everyone else.”