Danny Duffy leaves start with shoulder tightness
Not gnar. Not gnar at all.
Danny Duffy left his final spring training start in third inning after just two pitches due to shoulder tightness. He is considered day-to-day. Duffy is scheduled to make the Opening Day start for the Royals on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox.
Ned Yost and trainer Nick Kenney have made their second trip to the hill to check with Danny Duffy. He remained in after a second inning visit. He's exiting the game here in the third inning after throwing 32 pitches. He's scheduled to start Thursday against Chicago. #Royals
— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) March 24, 2018
Duffy is a gamer, so you can expect him to do everything he can to make his scheduled start.
Precautionary left shoulder tightness for Duffy.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 24, 2018
Danny Duffy is pretty convinced he’ll start on opening day. He felt a pop in his shoulder, and a little soreness, but the pain dissipated quickly after he came out.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 24, 2018
However he does have a history of injuries. He had elbow surgery over the off-season to remove loose bodies and had Tommy John surgery back in 2012.
More Duffy: "You don’t want to try to push for six, seven innings while you’re here when you could potentially miss a couple starts if you power through it and it is actually something. Lo and behold, we come out of the game and it’s nothing. It’s better to not gamble."
— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) March 24, 2018
Danny Duffy on exiting in the third inning with shoulder tightness: "The pain is gone. I’ll pick up a ball tomorrow; we’ll quote-unquote test it out, but I already know.” pic.twitter.com/6zEbvW5KVE
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 24, 2018
The Royals are expected to begin the season with a rotation of Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Nate Karns, and Jakob Junis. The team signed veteran Clay Buchholz last week, but he has yet to see game action. The club released veteran starter Ricky Nolasco today. The Royals have an off-day on Friday and could potentially push back Duffy’s turn in the rotation. Other options to fill a rotation spot, if needed, would be Trevor Oaks, Eric Skoglund, and Scott Barlow.