Jhoan Duran feels ‘fantastic’ after spring debut; Aaron Nola sharp vs. Team Canada

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It was only fitting that Wednesday’s exhibition game started with a ball hit to Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas. Team Canada’s designated hitter, Edouard Julien, drove one to right-center field. Rojas made a diving catch on the warning track dirt.

The ball continued to find him. Two at-bats later, Josh Naylor flied out to center field. At the top of the second inning, Tyler O’Neill did the same.

Rojas hit a double that bounced over the wall in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Bryson Stott.

» READ MORE: Johan Rojas’ potential PED suspension leaves Phillies no choice but to act (again)

On Tuesday, news broke that Rojas reportedly had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He chose to appeal his 80-game suspension, which was why he was back playing on Wednesday afternoon.

Until a decision is made on Rojas’s appeal, he will continue to train at the Phillies’ complex and appear in Grapefruit League games.

Team Canada went on to a 5-3 victory over the Phillies.

Jhoan Duran made his first appearance of the spring in the fourth inning. He pitched one inning, allowing no hits, runs or walks, with one strikeout.

His velocity was down (his splitter averaged 95 mph and his four-seam fastball 97.7 mph) but the closer wasn’t concerned.

“Everything is great right now,” he said when asked if he felt healthy. “Today is my first outing and I feel fantastic. So it’s good.”

Duran said he lost some weight during the offseason, likely because he was sick. He started throwing two weeks into the offseason, stopped for a few weeks because he was sick, and then picked up again.

» READ MORE: Jhoan Duran was once a hard-throwing minor leaguer with no nickname. Then, a coach gave him one that stuck.

Duran’s first outing of the spring last year came on Feb. 22. Manager Rob Thomson said this one came a bit later because of the illness, and because he “had a little touch of something earlier in camp.”

But Thomson, like Duran, said the closer is healthy.

Duran threw a few split-changeups on Wednesday — a pitch he said he hasn’t thrown since the minor leagues — and said he might bring it back during the regular season.

He said the grip of his split-changeup is a little different from his regular splitter.

“It’s just a different look,” Thomson said of the split-change. “Just something for the other hitters to think about.”

Aaron Nola made his last start before departing for the World Baseball Classic, where he will compete for Team Italy. He is expected to make his first start for Italy on March 11.

Nola pitched three innings, allowing one hit with four strikeouts. His velocity ticked up a bit, which he attributed to a slight tweak in his offseason routine.

“Probably starting earlier in the offseason,” he said. “Gave my arm and body time to ease into it, ease into throwing and long toss. I’m able to kind of rear back and throw a little bit harder right now, rather than previous spring trainings. My body feels really good, my arm feels really good.”

» READ MORE: Stop blaming Alec Bohm for failures by Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, and other cleanup Phillies

Duran followed Nola in the fourth. Reliever Tanner Banks pitched a clean inning in the fifth with two strikeouts, and Jonathan Bowlan followed in the sixth.

The reliever, who was acquired from the Royals in the Matt Strahm trade, struggled immediately, loading the bases by allowing two singles and a walk.

Abraham Toro hit a three-run double to tie the game at 3.

Right-hander Aaron Combs came in after Bowlan, and allowed an RBI single to score Toro and give Canada a 4-3 lead. He pitched one inning, with one hit and one hit batsman.

“That was great,” Nola said of Rojas’ catch. “I thought the ball was gone. I saw the wind blowing a little bit. That was a good catch.”

The Phillies will play the Boston Red Sox at BayCare Ballpark on Thursday (1:05 p.m., NBCSP+).