Danny Duffy

Daniel Richard Duffy (born December 21, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Royals in 2011 and was a member of their 2015 World Series championship team.

Duffy attended Cabrillo High School located in Vandenberg Village, California, where he pitched for the school's baseball team and also played basketball. For the baseball team, Duffy had a 5–3 win–loss record, a 0.60 earned run average (ERA), and 127 strikeouts in  58 2⁄₃ innings pitched in his senior year.

Minor League Baseball

The Kansas City Royals drafted Duffy in the third round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his professional career that season with the Arizona Royals of the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he pitched in 11 games and had a 1.45 ERA.

Duffy with the Royals in 2011

The Royals promoted Duffy to Burlington Bees of the Class-A Midwest League in 2008, where he had an 8–4 record and a 2.20 ERA in 17 starts. He was named Burlington's Pitcher of the Year. In 2009, Duffy started 24 games for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class-A Advanced Carolina League. He was named a Carolina League All-Star, and finished the season with a 9–3 record and a 2.98 ERA. Duffy represented the Royals in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game, where he pitched  2⁄₃ scoreless innings.

The Royals invited Duffy to spring training in 2010. However, Duffy abruptly retired from baseball in March 2010, at the age of 21. He informed J. J. Picollo, the Royals' assistant general manager of scouting and player development, that he wanted to "reassess his life priorities". The move reminded many of Zack Greinke's departure from the Royals' camp in 2006. Realizing that he missed the game of baseball, Duffy decided to return to the Royals in June, and showed up at the extended spring training in Surprise, Arizona. Later that season, Duffy pitched for Wilmington, the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Class-AA Texas League. Duffy went 5–2 with a 2.95 ERA in seven regular-season starts for the Naturals, and 1–0 with a 1.69 ERA in two playoff games, as the Naturals won the Texas League championship. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League after the season.

Heading into the 2011 season, Baseball America rated Duffy the 68th best prospect in baseball. The Royals again invited Duffy to spring training. Duffy began the 2011 season with the Omaha Storm Chasers of the Class-AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL). With Omaha, Duffy was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 25 – May 1. Duffy pitched to a 3–1 record and 3.00 ERA in seven starts for Omaha, recording 43 strikeouts while only walking 10 and allowing 30 hits in 36 innings. The Royals promoted Duffy to Major League Baseball (MLB), and he made his MLB debut on May 18, 2011. He gave up two runs in four innings; he did not earn a decision in the 5–4 loss to Texas. He recorded his first MLB win on June 14, going six innings in a win over the Oakland Athletics. Duffy finished the 2011 season with a 4–8 record and 5.64 ERA in 20 MLB starts.

Major League Baseball

2012

After signing a contract for $487,750 prior to the 2012 season, Duffy competed for, and won, a spot in the starting rotation during spring training.

Duffy made six starts in 2012 before suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow that required Tommy John surgery on June 13, 2012. Prior to being sidelined, Duffy had a 2-2 record with an ERA of 3.90. On November 2, 2012, the Royals reinstated Duffy from the 60-day disabled list; however, he was not expected to return to pitching for the Royals until late June or early July.

2013

He signed a one-year $505,125 contract on February 20, 2013. On May 26, 2013, Duffy began a rehab assignment with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. On June 6, the rehab assignment was changed to the Omaha Storm Chasers. He was optioned to Omaha at the end of the rehab period on June 25. Duffy was recalled from Omaha on August 7, and returned on August 8. He was recalled on August 16 to start the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers.

2014

On March 2, 2014, Duffy signed a one-year $526,000 contract. During spring training in 2014, Yordano Ventura won the final spot in the Royals' starting rotation over Duffy. However, when Bruce Chen went down with a back injury early in the season, Duffy took over his spot in the rotation. He posted a 9-12 record with a 2.53 ERA over  149 1⁄₃ innings.

2015

Duffy pitched to a 4.08 ERA during the 2015 season. In the 2015 World Series, Duffy made three relief appearances as the Royals defeated the New York Mets in five games to win the World Series championship.

2016

On January 15, 2016, Duffy signed a one-year, $4.225 million contract with the Royals for the upcoming season. He began the season as a relief pitcher, but rejoined the Royals' starting rotation in May. On August 1, 2016, Duffy set the Royals' record for most strikeouts in a single game with a 16 strikeout performance against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, Duffy carried a no-hitter into the eighth, losing it on a leadoff double by Desmond Jennings of the Tampa Bay Rays. He finished the season with a 12-3 record and a 3.51 ERA, while also increasing his strikeouts per 9 innings pitched ratio to 9.4.

2017

On January 16, 2017, Duffy signed a five-year contract extension with the Royals worth $65 million.

Duffy pitched for the United States national baseball team in the Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament in the 2010–11 offseason.

His father, Dan, is an investigator for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. His mother, Deanna, worked as a California Highway Patrol officer. She played softball, and throws batting practice for Danny.