Kansas City Royals Brian Duensing Requests Release

Kansas City Royals veteran lefty reliever Brian Duensing requested his release from the team on Sunday, exercising his May 15 opt out clause:

This move isn’t at all surprising, since the KC Royals have called up lefty relievers Brian Flynn and Scott Alexander ahead of Duensing in the last week. The Kansas City Royals also added Peter Moylan to the bullpen from Omaha, leaving the 33-year-old Duensing stuck in AAA.

I expected Duensing to exercise his opt out clause in order to seek work with another big league team.

The 33-year-old Duensing signed with the Kansas City Royals last winter, hoping to get reunited with college roommate Alex Gordon (Nebraska) in Kansas City. Though Duensing pitched fairly well in Omaha (3.10 ERA in 20.1 IP with 19 Ks), and the KC Royals pitching staff found itself rocked by early season injuries and heavy use, the team left him in AAA.

Duensing is a seven-year major league veteran, pitching all of those seasons with Kansas City Royals AL Central Division rival Minnesota Twins. Though a starter early in his career, Duensing became a lefty specialist for Minnesota the last three seasons.

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Duensing has a  41-37 record for his career, with a 4.13 ERA. While hardly a star, as a veteran lefty with a seven-year track record, he’s likely to find work as more bullpen arms go down with injury.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pitching against the Kansas City Royals in the near future.