Danny Duffy

Thought I'd catch up with a few valley alumni -

On the hill for Cabrillo back in 2007

Danny Duffy - Kansas City Royals [MLB]

Coming off of rehab for 'Tommy John' surgery, Danny Duffy [CHS] pitched ok in his initial start - back on 7 August against the Minnesota Twins. It wasn't really up to Duffy standards, however. He gave up 2 runs (both earned) on 6 hits, 2 walks, and a wild pitch in 3 and 2/3rds innings - resulting in a 4.31 ERA. While he had 7 strikeouts, and KC did win (5-2), he was inconsistent - the bugaboo of the major leagues, and was sent back down to the minors.

He threw 1 inning there and performed well enough in the game and training to be called back up. That was the good news. The bad news was that he slated to start versus the Detroit Tigers - in a match-up with Tiger ace Justin Verlander (Cy Young, 6 time All-Star) in game 1 of a double-header.

Not to worry though. On Friday (16 August) in Detroit, he opened with  a hitless 5 2/3 innings until likely AL MVP Miguel Cabrera broke it up with a single. No damage was done however as Duffy induced Prince Fielder to ground out to the thirdbaseman for the last out of the inning. That was also his final pitch of the game, finishing with no runs allowed, 1 hit, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts and a much more Duffy-like 1.86 ERA. The 3 walks, and a hit batter, indicate that he might not be all the way back just yet, but there are very few coaches who would unhappy with 6 innings at a 1.86 ERA clip from their starter - especially when they get a 2-1 win over the Tigers and their 2011 MVP pitcher.

Update: Unfortunately Duffy who was brought up as the 26th player for the double-header, was sent back down to the Omaha Storm Chasers on the 17th. He stayed with the team in Detroit however, to throw on the side over the weekend. He will return to KC with the Major League squad, before heading to Omaha for a start versus the New Orleans Zephyrs. It is expected that he will return to the 'bigs' no later than the roster expansion on September 1st.