Royals’ Danny Duffy was very sharp in second spring training start
Against a lefty-loaded top of the batting order that featured a international phenom in Shogo Akiyama, a veteran offensive offensive force in Joey Votto and a 19-homer producer last season in Derek Dietrich, Kansas City Royals left-hander pitcher Danny Duffy turned in the sharpest pitching performance of the spring.
Duffy tossed four scoreless innings that included just one hit and a grand total of two balls hit out of the infield — including a lackluster fly out — in a 7-2 Royals win over a Cincinnati Reds split squad Saturday afternoon at Surprise Stadium.
Afterward, Duffy’s focus remained on the improvements he can make with the regular season now less than three weeks away.
“It was a good outing,” Duffy said. “I still want to work on getting my fastball down a little bit more and fastball command arm-side, but everything comes with time. I can fine-tune that.”
Duffy struck out six in four innings, five swinging and one frozen on a curveball. The only hit he allowed came on a two-out double by Alfredo Rodriguez, which narrowly missed clearing the outfield wall, in the third inning.
“I feel like everything was really working outside of my changeup,” Duffy said. “I mean, I threw a couple good ones, but there was three or four in a row there that I left letter-high that I wasn’t pleased about. One of them was a double. The next one was to a lefty, their leadoff guy.”
Last season, left-handed hitters batted slightly better (.257/.354/.434) than right-handers (.249/.313/.439) against Duffy. For his career, left-handed hitters have batted significantly lower than righties.
“It’s definitely good to be able to work that changeup in to lefties and work on that,” Duffy said. “I’ve really tried to tighten the spin on my slider quite a bit, that worked a lot to them. I threw a couple in there that weren’t as sharp as I would’ve liked that they swung over and I threw a couple in there that were right where I wanted and they swung over. Consistency is really the name of the game. I’m going to continue to try to get better with that pitch and my changeup.”
First base candidates Ryan McBroom and Ryan O’Hearn each hit two-run home runs in a six-run third inning for the Royals. Infielder Matt Reynolds also homered in the inning, while outfielder Nick Heath hit an RBI triple.
Salvador Perez and Nicky Lopez each went 2-for-4 in the game. Perez belted a double, while Lopez legged-out a triple.
Lynch, Kowar to the minors
The Kansas City Royals announced their first roster moves of spring training shortly before Saturday’s game when they sent five pitchers to the minors, including top pitching prospects Daniel Lynch and Jackson Kowar.
The club optioned right-handed pitcher Scott Blewett to Triple-A Omaha and right-handed pitcher Carlos Hernandez to High-A Wilmington. They also assigned right-hander Conner Greene, right-hander Kowar and left-hander Lynch to minor league camp.
Lynch came into this spring ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Royals farm system and the best pitching prospect in their system by Baseball America. That publication ranked Lynch, who spent last season at High-A Wilmington and pitched in the Arizona Fall League, ranked him the 39th-best prospect in baseball.
This spring in big-league camp, Lynch appeared in two games and faced 13 batters. He allowed one run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.
Kowar, who reached the Double-A level last season, ranked No. 78 among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects.
Kowar appeared in four games and faced 19 batters. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits, including one home run, and three walks. He struck three three in 3 1/3 innings.
The Royals now have 63 players in major league camp, including 25 non-roster invitees.
Pitching probables
Left-handed pitching prospect Kris Bubic will start Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch. Bubic, who has only appeared in one Cactus League game, is a non-roster invitee in Royals camp.
Yunior Marte, Foster Griffin, Ofreidy Gomez, Gabe Speier, Arnaldo Hernandez, Jake Kalish, Tyler Zuber and Kyle Zimmer are all also expected to be available to pitch.
Mondesi update
Royals manager Mike Matheny said shortstop Adalberto Mondesi met with his surgeon on Friday and received a good report on the progress of his surgically repaired left shoulder.
Mondesi spent the offseason rehabbing his shoulder in Kansas City. He hasn’t appeared in a Cactus League game this spring, but Matheny expressed optimism that Mondesi was still on track to be ready for Opening Day.
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
