Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran was removed from Friday’s game at Nationals Park after being struck in the right foot or ankle by a 94.1 mph line drive hit by Paul DeJong during the ninth inning. Unable to put weight on his leg, Duran was assisted off the field with a cart.
Initial medical evaluations showed no fractures, as X-rays were negative. The Phillies stated that further assessment of Duran’s condition would take place on Saturday.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson described the incident: “He ran like a shot to retrieve the ball and then once he got there, I think the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in. Before the cart came out, he actually said, ‘I feel better, I think I can walk over to the dugout,’ but we got all these steps up here, so we just wanted to use the cart to take him all the way around, so we didn’t have to go up the steps.”
David Robertson replaced Duran on the mound and allowed a double before finishing out Philadelphia’s 6-2 victory over Washington.
Outfielder Kyle Schwarber commented on Duran’s injury: “You just hope for the best. It’s unfortunate, but it’s baseball and it could’ve happened to anyone. You’re just holding your breath and waiting to see what the results are going to be. Hopefully, everything’s going to be alright and it’s nothing super serious.”
Duran joined Philadelphia at this season’s Trade Deadline after being acquired from Minnesota. He has yet to allow a run in four innings across five games with his new team and has converted all four save opportunities since joining Philadelphia. Over this season, he holds an earned run average of 1.86 with 56 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings.
First baseman Bryce Harper also spoke about Duran: “I hope he’s OK; he couldn’t put too much weight on it. It’s a tough place to get hit, so hopefully he’s good. It takes 20 steps to get up [to the clubhouse from] field level, so it was smart to put him on the cart.”
