Royals’ Danny Duffy: Win today and tomorrow will take care of itself
Even as the sports world attempted to maintain a level of normalcy amid signs of a burgeoning pandemic early last week, the concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus were omnipresent.
For Major League Baseball teams like the Kansas City Royals and players like veteran left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy, spring training provides an insulated cocoon of sorts from the larger world.
The focus during this time of year typically is solely on preparation in a relaxed setting, compared to the daily grind of travel, fierce competition and intense scrutiny of the regular season.
That hyper-focus undoubtedly waned somewhat throughout a week that started with the the four major North American sports leagues, the NBA, NHL, MLS and MLB, jointly announcing a decision to close locker rooms and clubhouse to all media and a week which ended with the vast majority of all major professional, college and amateur sports halted until further notice.
“It’s pretty much the most dominant thought in everybody’s head right now,” Duffy said of the concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. “But when it comes down to it with work, I think we’ve all done a pretty good job as players to just make an effort to accomplish what you need to accomplish today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. There’s so much still up in the air. We’ve just got to do what we can to win the day and move forward, adjust and react to what they tell us to do.”
MLB’s commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Thursday that spring training in both Arizona and Florida had been suspended and the start of the regular season, initially scheduled for March 26, had been delayed at least two weeks or until April 9.
Friday afternoon, MLB announced that after an in-person meeting with players’ association officials in Arizona, players could elect to return home, remain in their spring training cities, or return to their club’s home city.
Duffy remained in Arizona on Saturday morning when he spoke to The Star.
“I don’t really think I’ve made, or any of us for that matter, made a call on what we’re ultimately going to do,” Duffy said. “I think we’re all pretty locked in on staying here for the moment, and just waiting until we get another update.
“I think it’s important to make sure you’re in the best place under the best eyes. Our medical staff is the best in baseball and has been for years. It might be a foolish call to even bounce in the event that we need some medical assistance. We’re in a pretty good place when we’re in our clubhouse.”
While camps are suspended, players still have access to their team’s coaching and training staffs as well as their training and treatment facilities.
Even as Duffy said he’s “committed” to remaining in Arizona and training at the Royals facility to stay as ready as possible right now, he acknowledged that his decision is a day-to-day proposition based on the available information at the time. Which is to say if he’s told it’s not safe to stay or if a situation developed back home, that could change his thinking.
“Obviously, family is the most important thing in the world,” Duffy said. “It should be to everybody. You never know. Like I said, you take care of today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. If that includes going home, and that’s what people decide to do, that’s what they do.”
Royals All-Star outfielder Whit Merrifield, MLB’s two-time reigning MLB hits leader, told The Star via text message that he was on his way back to North Carolina on Saturday morning.
Merrifield, who got married during the offseason, grew up in and still resides in North Carolina during the offseason. His father, Bill, works in the Wake Forest University athletic department as an assistant athletic director. Merrifield’s younger brother, Hite, is also a player on the Wake Forest baseball team.
“In short, guys want to stay together and continue to prepare like the season is not far off,” Merrifield wrote. “I’m headed home for a couple of days because I’m building a house and this is a chance for me to meet with some people face to face I haven’t been able to meet yet. I’m fortunate to have access to a great facility in Wake Forest to workout at. We will all continue to work daily and be ready for when the lights turn on.”
When the lights turn on
During a conference call on Friday morning, Royals general manager Dayton Moore and manager Mike Matheny expressed confidence in players’ ability and desire to stay ready and adjust when MLB gives more direction on how and when the league will proceed.
“The one thing I know about professional athletes and baseball players, they adapt really well,” Moore said. “You never want to miss time. These guys have pinpointed opening day once the season concluded in 2019, but they’ll adjust. For some of our players, a little extra time will be good for them physically and mentally.”
Duffy was scheduled to start Thursday’s Cactus League game against the Seattle Mariners, but the Royals canceled that game shortly before the commissioner announced spring training had been suspended.
Duffy remained ready throughout the day to make his start, though he said he had a gut feeling the game would get called off.
“We ended up throwing a four-inning simulation in the cage, and I’ll tell you what — I was feeling super-competitive because I didn’t know the next time I’d pick up a ball,” Duffy said. “I let it eat.”
Duffy, 31, has spent his entire career with the Royals, including parts of the past nine seasons in the majors. He said he took that opportunity on Thursday to enjoy the moment and enjoy being able to compete.
As far as keeping his body prepared for whenever baseball resumes preparations for the 2020 season, Duffy seemed to think it won’t be exceedingly difficult.
“As a pitcher, I think at this stage of my career just staying healthy is good enough to be ready,” Duffy said. “How I feel like the ball is coming out right now, I feel like as long as a stay healthy and strong it won’t be a huge adjustment to ramp it back up.
“I think it will be a little bit less of a challenge than most people probably think, and that’s coming from a pitcher. I think spring training tends to be so long because pitchers need to build up. Hitters are pretty locked and loaded a couple weeks in. I think it won’t be such a challenge on the baseball side of things when we decide to start playing again.”
Duffy built up the point of throwing four innings or 65 pitches so far this spring. His initial preference would be to plateau and maintain that level for the time being, but he’ll defer completely to the instruction of pitching coach Cal Eldred and Matheny.
Along with the uncertainty about how and when teams and players will ramp back up for the season, there are still many details that will have to sort through off the field, such as the league schedule, player compensation and accumulation of service time.
“Our union is great,” Duffy said. “They’ll hammer out what they’ve got to hammer out with the owners. The time will come to see what happens with that stuff. We have the right people on it right now.
“They’re available for questions whenever we have them, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to bombard with questions about payment or service time when they’re dealing with something so much bigger. They’ll get it right. I know it will be a fair and correct situation. I have confidence in the people who are representing us.”
