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Kansas City Royals: How Should Team Handle Danny Duffy

By Leigh Oleszczak

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It’s no secret that the Kansas City Royals rotation has struggled lately. It’s also no secret that Danny Duffy is the one struggling the most out of all the starters. So far this season (as of May 20th), Duffy has a 5.87 ERA in eight starts. That’s not good, in case you were wondering.

So how should the Royals handle Danny Duffy? There are a few options for the team here.

1) Keep him in the rotation

I mean, obviously this will be the case for at least one more start, as Ned Yost has stated in interviews.

"“We saw him some improvement last night,” Yost said. “We’re going to have to see more improvement in his next start.”"

Duffy’s next start comes this Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals and if he doesn’t show improvement, then one of the bottom two options will surely happen. We’ll get to those in a bit.

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Jason Vargas will be coming off the disabled list later this week, and that’s when the Royals will have a decision to make. Vargas apparently won’t require any minor league rehabilitation, which begs the question about what will happen to the rotation? Chris Young has been pitching way too well to be thrown back into the bullpen, but I don’t see the team giving up on Duffy.

2) Bullpen

The Kansas City Royals have flourished with some of their former starting pitchers they’ve put in the bullpen. Wade Davis is an obvious one that comes to mind. Davis has absolutely dominated in the bullpen and currently posts a 0.00 ERA. That’s pretty dang good.

Luke Hochevar also failed as a starter and later found success in the bullpen. Hochevar was a scary force in the bullpen in 2013, and has just come back from Tommy John surgery and is still finding his command at the mound.

Danny Duffy’s case would be different in the bullpen though. I don’t think it’d be a permanent move, just one that could hopefully boost Duffy’s confidence a little bit, and provide the bullpen with another left-handed reliever (right now, Franklin Morales is the only lefty in the pen).

3) Omaha

This may seem harsh, but if players in the majors aren’t performing well, then Omaha is where they go. At least that’s where poor performing Royals players go. Mike Moustakas knows this all too well, as he went to Omaha for a week or so last year. No one is safe from going back to the minors.

Personally, I think this option is the best one should Duffy continue his poor pitching.

Next: KC Royals: The Biggest Impact Hitter Thus Far

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