KC Royals: Five Reasons Danny Duffy Became The Staff Ace

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Jul 7, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) comes to the mound to relieve relief pitcher Danny Duffy (41) in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

3) Improved Control Lets Duffy Pitch Deeper Into Games

Danny Duffy’s biggest problem as a pitcher has always been his tendency to go deep into counts because he was trying to shave the edges of the plate. That not only led him to issue a lot of walks, but also to rapidly pile up high pitch counts.

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Danny Duffy would often last no more than five innings in his starts, and 6 was really the most you could expect from him when he took the mound. That’s all changed.

Duffy has lasted 63.1 innings in 11 starts this season. While that might not sound like much of an improvement, consider that he was working under a strict pitch limit as he stretched out his arm to transition from the bullpen back to the rotation.

If we look at his last three starts, Duffy has lasted 23.0 innings, which works out to 7.66 innings per start. That, boys and girls, is a fantastic rate. For the month of June, he’s averaged 6.375 innings per start—which would put him on pace to eat more than 200 innings pitched over a full season. As it is, Duffy has pitched 81.2 innings, which puts him on track to break his career high 149.1 innings pitched in 2014.

The ability to go deep into games and eat a lot of innings with high quality results is what makes a player an ace. To carry a team in the post-season, a pitcher needs to pitch into the seventh or eighth inning on a regular basis like Madison Bumgarner did to the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series.

The blunt truth is that Madison Bumgarner is the reason why the KC Royals aren’t two time defending World Champions, rather than just two-time defending AL pennant winners. If the Kansas City Royals had THIS Danny Duffy available to pitch in 2014, even MadBum might not have been able ensure a Giants victory.

Next: Reason No. 2

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