Royals’ Danny Duffy to undergo minor elbow cleanout

Royals starter Danny Duffy is set to undergo a surgical procedure on Tuesday to remove “loose bodies” in the back of his elbow, manager Ned Yost said on Saturday.

The minor elbow cleanout — an arthroscopic procedure to eliminate loose cartilage and bone fragments that cause inflammation — was expected for weeks after Duffy landed on the disabled list in late August with what the Royals called a pronator strain. Duffy returned to make three starts in September but he continually hinted that he would need to “address” his elbow in the offseason.

“I have what I have,” Duffy said in early September. “It’s something that is inflaming something in there. So we’ll get it looked at when we need to. But until then, right now, I could go. Nothing in my elbow is going to compromise my ligament.”

Duffy said he felt the issue last season as well. He considered undergoing a similar procedure in the offseason. Yet the problem appeared manageable.

“A lot of players have slight tears or chips or whatever and play through it,” Yost said. “You don’t address it until you have to, until it affects your performance.”

On Saturday, Duffy said he was looking forward to taking care of the issue and moving forward. He is under contract for four more years after signing a five-year, $65 million deal last offseason.

“I want to give my best to this organization for the next four years,” he said.

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Royals’ Danny Duffy to undergo minor elbow cleanout."