Danny Duffy itching to rejoin Royals, but knows team will take it slow

On Saturday afternoon, a day after his first bullpen session since receiving a cortisone shot for sore left shoulder, Royals pitcher Danny Duffy plugged in a pair of ear buds and departed the team hotel on foot. His destination was Wrigley Field, and he did not bring a map. He ran until he found Addison Street and followed the road all the way to the ballpark.

Duffy has not pitched in two weeks. He admitted he is burning to return to action, even though a slight case of discomfort still lingers in his arm. He expects to remain on the disabled list until all the pain dissipates.

“I’m ready to go,” Duffy said inside the cramped visitors clubhouse. “For sure. But we’ve got to make sure to knock all the soreness out of there, all the inflammation, everything. It’s something you’ve got to take slow, I guess.”

Duffy expects to throw another bullpen session on Sunday. He is likely to take part in at least one start on a rehabilitation assignment before the team decides whether to activate him. Duffy pitched with this condition throughout the summer of 2014, and it contributed to his absence during September and October.

Like most of his teammates on Saturday, Duffy (2-3, 5.87 ERA) wondered whether the rain would permit the Royals and Cubs to continue their series. Just after 4:30 p.m. the game was postponed. It will be made up on Sept. 28 at 7:05 p.m. The Royals lose an off-day but do not add any travel: They are slated to begin a series against the White Sox on Sept. 29.

Manager Ned Yost indicated he will not alter his rotation after the rainout. Yordano Ventura will start on Sunday. Jeremy Guthrie will return to action on Tuesday, in his first start since giving up 11 runs to the Yankees last week. Jason Vargas will pitch Wednesday.

Kansas City activated Vargas off the disabled list to pitch in Duffy’s place last Tuesday. The club disabled Duffy after his shoulder did not respond in time to a cortisone shot. Duffy is eligible to pitch on Monday, but the team is expected to be very cautious with his return.

Duffy threw about 25 pitches during a bullpen session on Friday. He indicated he tired near the end of the outing, but he chalked that up to inactivity. He still feels a small batch of stiffness in the shoulder. On a scale of one to 10, he explained, the current level of discomfort is a one. Before the shot, he said it felt more like a five or six.

“I don’t feel any immense pain or soreness at all today,” Duffy said. “I don’t feel like I over-used it.”

The Royals feel Duffy exhausted his shoulder during a trio of unproductive, inefficient outings. Duffy gave up 14 runs in 9 2/3 innings in those games. He also piled up 255 pitches in that limited time frame.

Duffy felt like he could have pitched through the condition. But he understood his team’s zeal for healing him.

“I didn’t expect to go on the D.L.,” Duffy said. “But it’s something that was probably necessary. It wasn’t performance-based, but my soreness came from lack of performance, my volume, the stuff that was going on. We’ll knock it out. We’ll get it all out of there. I’d just like to get back to competing again.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Danny Duffy itching to rejoin Royals, but knows team will take it slow."