Twins closer Jhoan Duran feeling younger, throwing as well as ever

By largest part players standards Jhoan Duran had a good season last year By his own admission it wasn t what he was looking for he requested results that more closely resembled his season After posting a earned-run average converting saves and striking out batters per nine innings his numbers took a slight hit last year still dependable just not quite as dominant So he dedicated himself in the offseason stuck to a regimented plan that more closely resembled his offseason two years prior and manifested up to Fort Myers Fla for spring training pounds lighter And now I feel great Duran announced I feel younger I can say I feel really good He has looked good too The Twins bullpen has been among the strengths of the crew in current days on the last homestand the group gave up just two runs one earned in innings across six games and Duran is right there among the big reasons why His ability to repeat right now his ability to throw his strikes with all his pitches when he wants it and the stuff itself is back up manager Rocco Baldelli announced There s just a lot of really good signs with the way he s throwing the ball The Twins who had Monday off and will resume play on Tuesday at p m CT in Baltimore are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak Duran is a perfect for in save attempts during that run picking up a win in another contest Across innings thrown this year Duran has a earned-run average allowing just three runs two earned He has recorded seven saves in as a great number of chances Opponents are hitting a collective against him and his WHIP Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched sits at lower than each of his previous two seasons Though he s not lighting up the radar gun at and mph like he was a couple years of ago he s still throwing plenty hard his four-seam fastball is averaging mph on par with where it was last season and close to as well And after his four-seamer got hit a little bit last year opponents hit off it he tweaked his pitch usage For the first time that pitch one of the hardest in the match isn t his most-used offering That s been replaced by his splinker a pitch he throws at on average mph As a rookie that pitch was thrown percent of the time Now it s all the way up to percent eclipsing the fastball Last season he threw his fastball percent of the time and the splinker percent Last year when I had a bad moment and I threw that pitch it got me out of that situation he revealed of the splinker I revealed OK I need to throw it more because that pitch is really good That s why I throw it more I throw it for strikes and then whatever happens What happens the bulk of the time is that opponents can t do all that much with it Accompanied by a devastating curveball which Duran throws percent of the time and a sweeper that he has very occasionally mixed in this year and you ve got a recipe for one of the bulk dominant pitchers in the majors The Twins have seen plenty of good versions of Jhoan Duran but the version has been among the best yet He s been very good throughout from Day One and you had a feeling he was in a good spot in spring training Baldelli commented But the season started and he really turned it up a level and I think he s looked excellent Briefly Infielder Mickey Gasper optioned to Triple-A St Paul last week was named the International League s sportsman of the week after a hitting - with two doubles four home runs and six RBIs as the Saints took five of six from the Buffalo Bisons at CHS Field