Kansas City Royals: Two Key Changes Could Solve Many Problems

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Bruce Chen (52) Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Change #1: Swap out Bruce Chen and Danny Duffy

Bruce Chen delivered a solid performance in his first outing against Chicago going 6.1 innings and yielding 1 run on 7 hits with an impressive 7 K’s.

Unfortunately, he followed that with two brutal outings against Minnesota giving up 6 runs in 3.2 innings and 4 runs in 5 innings respectively while displaying an uncharacteristic lack of control yielding 6 walks in the two starts.

Interestingly, shortly after the second Minnesota outing, word came out that Chen was suffering from an injury which may have affected his performance and which caused him to miss his last start.

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His track-record and relationship with Ned Yost will likely mean he will get several more opportunities to prove himself in the rotation but that is not the best thing for this team.

On the season, Chen has posted a 1-1 record paired with a 6.60 ERA in 3 appearances. Worse, his WHIP is an extraordinarily high 1.87 and opponents are hitting .330 against him this season. Not quite what was expected of him.

Still, if history tells us anything at all, he’s likely end up right around the league averages in most statistical categories before the season is done. The question is, how much time will he spend in the rotation as opposed to the bullpen? Enter Danny Duffy.