Twins closer Jhoan Duran has an entrance worthy of his fastball

It's been more than a year since the Twins unveiled their entrance for closer Jhoan Duran, complete with the lights dimming, a mix of two songs blasting through the Target Field speakers and fire displayed on the video boards, but it received some national recognition last weekend.

Duran's entrance was broadcast in entirety on SNY, home of the New York Mets broadcasts, before Duran earned his 25th save of the season in a 5-2 victory Friday and it collected more than four million views on X (formerly Twitter).

The Twins introduced Duran's entrance on Aug. 5, 2022, when he was a hard-throwing setup man, matching what they've done with one-time closer Jorge López and former closer Fernando Rodney.

"I said in my mind, 'Oh my goodness, that's amazing,'" said Duran, remembering the first time he had a special entrance. "I wanted to go back to the bullpen and ask what [happened]? That's incredible. That surprised me too. I saw all the fans put flash on their phones. I was like, 'Oh my goodness, that's cool.'"

The Mets set the standard for entrance music last year with closer Edwin Diaz's entrance to Timmy Trumpet's Narco.

Duran, who debuted during the 2022 season and became the guy with the fastest fastball in the major leagues, initially had a different walk-out song. The team, Duran said, asked him to pick another one to match the fire on the videoboards.

After chatting with former team interpreter Elvis Martinez, Duran selected Farruko's "El Incomprendido" and the Daddy Yankee and Pitbull collab "Hot."

"I said, OK, that's good," Duran said after hearing it as his entrance song. "I stuck with that."

The 25-year-old is a veteran with his entrance now. He'll throw a few pitches in the bullpen at the end of the inning to time his walk out of the bullpen with the lights and music.

"Mine is more of a show," Duran said. "I want to see everything dark. That's cool."