Even before Jhoan Duran didn’t even need to throw his first pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies, announcers Tom McCarthy and John Kruk were pretty sure they had something special with the newly-acquired closer.
Leading 5-4 in the ninth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers, the Phillies called on Duran, who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the deadline, to close things out. When he took the mound for the ninth inning, the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast did not go to commercial, instead staying with the game to show Phillies fans Duran’s entrance. And it was something.
Shortly after Duran left the bullpen, the stadium lights went out and “El Incomprendido” by Victor Cardenas, Farruko and DJ Adoni began to play as the fans at Citizens Bank Park pulled their phones out to light the stadium up.
Other than a brief chuckle, McCarthy and Kruk stayed silent for a while, letting the pictures tell the story. Shortly after public address announcer Dan Baker introduced Duran to the Citizens Bank Park crowd, McCarthy began to talk again.
“This is unbelievable. It’s been a long time since something like this has happened at Citizens Bank Park. I don’t even think it ever happened. I mean, seriously, John. Thank you to the Twins for passing this on to the Phillies,” McCarthy said.
“Yeah, this is beautiful,” Kruk replied.
“Thank you to the Twins for passing this on to the Phillies.”
“Yeah. This is beautiful.”
Tom McCarthy and John Kruk react to the scene as new Phillies closer Jhoan Duran takes the mound at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since getting traded. pic.twitter.com/WPFmfRRPQn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 2, 2025
If they were happy before Duran threw a pitch, they had to feel even better when he closed the game out by retiring the Tigers in order.