There is a palpable level of excitement throughout the Philadelphia Phillies world as Jhoan Duran embarks on his first full season as the Phillies' closer. Big things are expected of the 28-year-old, whose 100 mile-per-hour sinkers threaten to dominate any hitter who steps into the box to oppose him. With that said, we weren't exactly expecting him to make history on Opening Day.
Duran did just that, however, becoming the first Phillies reliever to record a save at home on Opening Day. Yes, really. Getting a save is no easy task, of course. There is a reason why closers get paid the big bucks. But to think that a team, any team, much less one that is typically among the league's contenders, had never recorded a save at home prior to 2026 is wild to think about.
This is the Phillies. The Phillies we're talking about. It's been centuries!
How Jhoan Duran possibly recorded the only home save in Phillies Opening Day history
The save became an official statistic in 1969, meaning it has been in existence for 57 years. Over the course of those 57 years, the Phillies have played at home on Opening Day 25 times, including this year's opener.
In that context, it might not seem that crazy since not all of those 25 games were wins, and some were certainly blowouts in either direction. But when you think about what a save really is, it is wild that no one had even lucked into it prior to 2026.
Over the years, saves have evolved. What we think of today, bringing in a closer with a lead of three runs or less in the ninth inning to record the final three outs, is not how the stat was originally intended to be recorded.
In fact, there are three ways to be credited with a save. In addition to the most common method, described above, a pitcher can earn a save if he enters the game with the tying run on deck, at the plate, or on the bases and finishes the game successfully. We see that occasionally, including this go-around, when lower-tier relievers struggle to close out a game with a sizeable lead, the closer has to get involved.
The other way, and the way it was most commonly done at its inception, would be to throw at least three innings in relief and finish the game while preserving the win. Here, the score doesn't matter. Given the tight pitch counts starters are on and how careful managers typically are with managing their bullpens, it's shocking that no Philadelphia reliever has backed his way into this flavor of save throughout the years.
Cool piece of trivia notwithstanding, Duran making history is secondary. Him being a nerves-of-steel fireman for what should be a very talented bullpen overall is what matters most.