Royals Report: Danny Duffy Dominates Cardinals In 6-2 Win

The Royals won their second straight game Monday night, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 in the first of four consecutive games against their cross-state inter-league rival.

The Kansas City Royals improved to 40-35, remaining five games behind AL Central leader Cleveland who won their 10th straight game Monday. The Cardinals fell to 39-36 and 10 games behind NL Central leader Chicago Cubs.

The KC Royals recovered from a tough first inning in which the Cardinals seized a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Matt Holliday. The Kansas City Royals responded with a two-RBI single from Kendrys Morales in the bottom half of the inning to knot the score at 2-2, then added a four-run rally in the second to take control of the game.

The KC Royals continue to gyrate between winning and losing streaks. Their current two game string followed four straight losses. Earlier in the season, the Kansas City Royals sandwiched an eight game losing streak with between a six game winning streak and a five game run. Let’s hope the Royals can continue the trend by rolling over the Cardinals for the next three games.

On to my observations about Monday’s game:

Next: Danny Duffy

4) Danny Duffy Showed His Growing Maturity

The 27-year-old Duffy appears to be taking over the no. 1 rotation role for the KC Royals after beginning the season as a reliever. Duffy did a fabulous job recovering from giving up a two-run bomb in the first to last 8.0 innings while striking out 8. He held the Cardinals scoreless after their first inning outburst and is now regularly lasting deep into games.

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That’s the kind of thing you expect from a staff ace.

The most impressive development of Danny Duffy’s game this season has been his transformation from nibbler to pitcher that attacks the plate with 97 mph heat. Dialing up his fastball by around 2 mph as a reliever, he stuck with the approach after moving back to the rotation.

The increased velocity has allowed Duffy to stop trying to hit the black and instead make sure to get ahead in early counts. This change has allowed him to reduce the number of pitches in an inning. For example, on Monday night, Duffy needed only 101 pitches to last through eight frames.

If Duffy keeps it up, he could end up being a guy that can carry a team in the post-season. He’s not quite there yet, but he keeps taking steps in that direction and has the raw stuff to become that kind of pitcher.

Next: Whit Merrifield

3) Are Teams Figuring Whit Merrifield Out?

The last two games, Whit Merrifield has gone 2 for 9 with six strikeouts against Houston’s Doug Fister and St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright. Though Merrifield is still slashing an impressive .317/.340/.441, I’m beginning to wonder if major-league pitchers have identified a hole in his swing.

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It’s not entirely unusual for a veteran player to strike out three times in a game, or even to do so twice in a row. But, it’s another thing for a young rookie in his first months in the big leagues to do the same thing after a hot start to his career.

In the latter case, it’s much more likely a sign that teams have begun to figure out how to attack the young player at the plate. Typically, pitchers will go after rookies and force them to show can hit big league stuff. When the rookie establishes that he’s got the chops to hit strikes, THEN pitchers will begin to try fooling him with off-speed stuff or hitting the edges.

Often, the hot start fades as a player’s weaknesses become known.

That’s when the young player either sinks or swims. They’ll have to adjust to changed patterns. If they can do it, they’ll stick. If they can’t, they’ll sink to marginal status or even bounce out of the game. Merrifield’s conditioning program to increase his strength and his adjustment with his top hand case propelled him from a nondescript minor-league utility man into a major-league regular. Now we’ll see if Merrifield can stick around for the long-term.

Maybe Merrifield really is a lead-off hitter at the big league level. Maybe he’s a bottom of the lineup guy, but can still hold down a  regular job. Or, Merrifield might be no more than a utility guy that sticks due to his ability to play almost every position on the field.

Next: Kendrys Morales

2) Kendrys Morales Is On Fire

Kendrys Morales endured a miserable start to the season through the first two months of 2016. Morales began June slashing .193/.262/.330, making KC Royals fans wonder if his strong 2015 season was a fortunate mirage and that he had now come back to reality. Many fans were beginning to wonder if Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore would need to seek a replacement for Morales at the trade deadline.

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Instead, Morales has turned things around in June, hitting an impressive .360/.422/.587 during the month with four home runs and 16 RBIs.

Kendrys Morales blasted two home runs on Sunday, and followed up that performance by going 4 for 4 on Monday with one double and two RBIs. Morales’ triple slash is now an almost respectable .243/.309/.406, with 10 dingers and 37 RBIs, which has put an end to most of the questions about him.

With Morales once again a threatening switch hitter in the middle of the KC Royals lineup, many of the offense’s problems are solved. Add in the return of Alex Gordon, and the team looks much more like that squad that won the World Series last season.

Now, if Moore could get more consistent starting pitching by landing some help on the trade market, the Kansas City Royals will be in position to run down the Indians in the AL Central.

Next: Alcides Escobar