KC Royals: Five Reasons Danny Duffy Became The Staff Ace

KC Royals pitcher Danny Duffy has been one of the best surprises of the season. After beginning the season in the bullpen, Duffy has clearly taken over as the staff ace with a 3.09 ERA with a 10.39 K/9.

I guess the biggest question is how a guy that had been inconsistent over his entire career could suddenly put it all together to put himself in such a position. That’s the focus of this article.

The rather cynical answer is that Danny Duffy is simply better than everyone else. The fact is, most of the Kansas City Royals pitching staff has disappointed this season. Kris Medlen and Chris Young got injured after about a month of play, and have never been right since. Medlen put up a 7.77 ERA and has yet to return from his injury. Meanwhile, KC Royals fans WISH Chris Young had remained injured, because he has a 6.90 ERA in 60.0 innings pitched while giving up a whopping 26 home runs (most in MLB).

Supposedly Steady Edinson Volquez has a 7-8, 4.87 ERA in 16 starts and 105.1 innings pitched, but much of the damage came from one outing in which he surrendered 12 runs in 1.0 innings. Throw out that one start, and Volquez’s ERA goes down to a much more palatable 3.88. That’s a decent mid-rotation starter. Ian Kennedy is 6-7, with a 3.97 ERA and a 9.3 K/9.

Yordano Ventura‘s struggles have been well documented on our site. Let’s just say his performance has been unacceptably inconsistent at 6-6, 5.26 ERA.

Danny Duffy simply jumps out in a truly disappointing group. As a staff, the KC Royals starters rank 25th in major-league baseball with a 5.02 ERA. But, if Danny Duffy can function as a legitimate ace, then KC Royals general manager Dayton Moore’s job at the trade deadline becomes much easier.

Landing a no. 2 or even a mid-rotation guy is much less costly in prospects than a bona fide ace.

Next: Reason No. 5