Kansas City Royals: Starting Pitching Options

Danny Duffy: Steamer Projection – 21 Starts

Danny Duffy is a bit of a question mark. He’s just kind of hard to figure out.

In 2014, Duffy started out in the bullpen and would wind up starting 25 games with a 2.53 ERA. In 149 innings of work, he finally looked like the highly-touted prospect he once was.

In 2015, Danny Duffy started the season as a member of the rotation only to be moved to the bullpen by the end of the season. In a season that saw him slated to start games, he started on 24 games and posted an ERA of 4.08.

His innings’ pitched and strikeout rates both went down from 2014 to 2015 and in 2016 he’s projected to make even fewer starts.

While Duffy has a very limited amount of statistics as a reliever, he’s really better equipped to pitch out of the bullpen. His ERA, strikeout rate, and walk rate are all far better in the bullpen than they are when he starts the game.

If Danny Duffy can stop playing games between his ears and just trust his ‘stuff’ a little bit more, he might be a manageable rotation piece. Part of his problem seems to be his inability to just go out and pitch. He does seem to let things get to him and melts down from time to time.

Next: Gee Whiz