The Philadelphia Phillies have begun to struggle a bit. They have lost three consecutive games and fallen out of first place in the National League East.
They still are 47-34 and lead the Wild Card race, but their bullpen needs work. They are currently missing Jose Alvarado, who was suspended 80 games for PED use and is now ineligible for the postseason.
Bullpen help will be available at the trade deadline, and the Phillies will have a chance to boost their relief corps.
Nick Selbe of Sports Illustrated listed Minnesota Twins closer Jhoan Duran as a trade candidate and had the Phillies as a possible fit.
"Duran has taken his game to new heights in his fourth big-league season, blowing hitters away with a four-seamer that sits 100.4 mph and a devastating knuckle curve that’s generated a 42.6% whiff rate. He’s posted a staggering 71.7% ground ball rate and is yet to allow a home run. Should the Twins fall out of the race, there should be no shortage of contending teams lining up to add a game-changing closer to the back of their bullpen," Selbe wrote.
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Duran has put together a solid season to date for the Twins. He is 4-3 with a 1.73 ERA in 38 appearances and has recorded 11 saves.
Last season, he recorded 23 saves for Minnesota and posted a 3.64 ERA. He could bring back a haul for the Twins if he is traded.
As for the Phillies, they could have a legitimate closer and potentially bump Jordan Romano back to a setup role, effectively replacing the sidelined Alvarado.
This would also give the Phillies a much better chance to take first place back from the New York Mets in the NL East and win their second consecutive division title.
The losses of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez in free agency certainly are hurting the Phillies, but if they can pick up Duran, they could significantly improve their bullpen.
It will be interesting to see how Philadelphia goes about adding relief help at the deadline.
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