KC’s Danny Duffy prepares to ‘push through’ elbow inflammation
On the disabled list since late August, Royals starter Danny Duffy said Monday that the lingering discomfort in his left arm may need to be addressed in the offseason.
“It’s not ever going to go away until I take care of it,” Duffy said. “I just got to push through to the end of the season.”
Duffy was diagnosed with a “low grade pronator strain” in late August after pitching through discomfort for four to five starts. He has spent the last two weeks resting and rehabbing in an attempt to return this month.
In an interview Monday, he offered some insight into the injury. Something is causing inflammation near his elbow, he said. He remains confident that pitching through pain this month would not put his elbow, including the ulnar collateral ligament, in any danger.
“I have what I have,” he said. “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. You also have to go forward knowing that you could re-aggravate the original injury.”
The comments came Monday afternoon, minutes after Duffy concluded a three-inning simulated game on the field at Kauffman Stadium. He threw 46 pitches while facing a collection of hitters that included Raul Mondesi, Jorge Bonifacio and Drew Butera.
Duffy reported that his arm “felt really good”.
Royals manager Ned Yost said Duffy would not throw another simulated game before returning to the mound, which means he could be activated and start as soon as this weekend in Cleveland.
“He’ll be ready to go 60 or 65 (pitches),” Yost said. “We’re running out of time here.”
The Royals have toyed with the idea of using a six-man rotation when Duffy returns. The plan, Yost said, could offer extra rest to Duffy, Kennedy and Jason Vargas during the season’s final weeks. For Duffy, the additional day off between starts could help him manage the pain.
“Everybody has something going on,” Duffy said. “If I could tolerate the pain, I’m going to.”
2018 schedule sends Royals to NL Central — Pull out your calendars. The Royals will open the 2018 season at home against the Chicago White Sox on March 29, the club announced Tuesday as Major League Baseball unveiled the full schedule for next year.
The 2018 season is starting earlier than usual as the league institutes an additional four off days into the calendar. After opening the year against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals will begin their road schedule with three-game series in Detroit and Cleveland.
The interleague slate will shift back to the National League Central. Kansas City will play 20 interleague games across eight series, including trips to St. Louis (May 21-23) Milwaukee (June 26-27), Pittsburgh (September 17-19) and Cincinnati (September 25-26). The Royals are making their fourth trips to Miller Park in Milwaukee, PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
2018 Royals schedule
Game dates subject to change. Times and TV channels to be announced. Home games at Kauffman Stadium in CAPS.
MARCH
THU 29 CHICAGO (AL)
FRI 30 OFF
SAT 31 CHICAGO (AL)
APRIL
SUN 1 CHICAGO (AL)
MON 2 at Detroit
TUE 3 at Detroit
WED 4 at Detroit
THU 5 OFF
FRI 6 at Cleveland
SAT 7 at Cleveland
SUN 8 at Cleveland
MON 9 SEATTLE
TUE 10 SEATTLE
WED 11 SEATTLE
THU 12 LOS ANGELES (AL)
FRI 13 LOS ANGELES (AL)
SAT 14 LOS ANGELES (AL)
SUN 15 LOS ANGELES (AL)
MON 16 at Toronto
TUE 17 at Toronto
WED 18 at Toronto
THU 19 OFF
FRI 20 at Detroit
SAT 21 at Detroit
SUN 22 at Detroit
MON 23 OFF
TUE 24 MILWAUKEE
WED 25 MILWAUKEE
THU 26 MILWAUKEE
FRI 27 CHICAGO (AL)
SAT 28 CHICAGO (AL)
SUN 29 CHICAGO (AL)
MON 30 at Boston
MAY
TUE 1 at Boston
WED 2 at Boston
THU 3 DETROIT
FRI 4 DETROIT
SAT 5 DETROIT
SUN 6 DETROIT
MON 7 OFF
TUE 8 at Baltimore
WED 9 at Baltimore
THU 10 at Baltimore
FRI 11 at Cleveland
SAT 12 at Cleveland
SUN 13 at Cleveland
MON 14 TAMPA BAY
TUE 15 TAMPA BAY
WED 16 TAMPA BAY
THU 17 OFF
FRI 18 NEW YORK (AL)
SAT 19 NEW YORK (AL)
SUN 20 NEW YORK (AL)
MON 21 at St. Louis
TUE 22 at St. Louis
WED 23 at St. Louis
THU 24 at Texas
FRI 25 at Texas
SAT 26 at Texas
SUN 27 at Texas
MON 28 MINNESOTA
TUE 29 MINNESOTA
WED 30 MINNESOTA
THU 31 OFF
JUNE
FRI 1 OAKLAND
SAT 2 OAKLAND
SUN 3 OAKLAND
MON 4 at Los Angeles (AL)
TUE 5 at Los Angeles (AL)
WED 6 at Los Angeles (AL)
THU 7 at Oakland
FRI 8 at Oakland
SAT 9 at Oakland
SUN 10 at Oakland
MON 11 OFF
TUE 12 CINCINNATI
WED 13 CINCINNATI
THU 14 OFF
FRI 15 HOUSTON
SAT 16 HOUSTON
SUN 17 HOUSTON
MON 18 TEXAS
TUE 19 TEXAS
WED 20 TEXAS
THU 21 OFF
FRI 22 at Houston
SAT 23 at Houston
SUN 24 at Houston
MON 25 OFF
TUE 26 at Milwaukee
WED 27 at Milwaukee
THU 28 OFF
FRI 29 at Seattle
SAT 30 at Seattle
JULY
SUN 1 at Seattle
MON 2 CLEVELAND
TUE 3 CLEVELAND
WED 4 CLEVELAND
THU 5 OFF
FRI 6 BOSTON
SAT 7 BOSTON
SUN 8 BOSTON
MON 9 at Minnesota
TUE 10 at Minnesota
WED 11 at Minnesota
THU 12 OFF
FRI 13 at Chicago (AL)
SAT 14 at Chicago (AL)
SUN 15 at Chicago (AL)
MON 16 ALL-STAR BREAK
TUE 17 ALL-STAR GAME
WED 18 ALL-STAR BREAK
THU 19 ALL-STAR BREAK
FRI 20 MINNESOTA
SAT 21 MINNESOTA
SUN 22 MINNESOTA
MON 23 DETROIT
TUE 24 DETROIT
WED 25 DETROIT
THU 26 at New York (AL)
FRI 27 at New York (AL)
SAT 28 at New York (AL)
SUN 29 at New York (AL)
MON 30 OFF
TUE 31 at Chicago (AL)
AUGUST
WED 1 at Chicago (AL)
THU 2 at Chicago (AL)
FRI 3 at Minnesota
SAT 4 at Minnesota
SUN 5 at Minnesota
MON 6 CHICAGO (NL)
TUE 7 CHICAGO (NL)
WED 8 CHICAGO (NL)
THU 9 OFF
FRI 10 ST. LOUIS
SAT 11 ST. LOUIS
SUN 12 ST. LOUIS
MON 13 TORONTO
TUE 14 TORONTO
WED 15 TORONTO
THU 16 TORONTO
FRI 17 at Chicago (AL)
SAT 18 at Chicago (AL)
SUN 19 at Chicago (AL)
MON 20 at Tampa Bay
TUE 21 at Tampa Bay
WED 22 at Tampa Bay
THU 23 at Tampa Bay
FRI 24 CLEVELAND
SAT 25 CLEVELAND
SUN 26 CLEVELAND
MON 27 OFF
TUE 28 DETROIT
WED 29 DETROIT
THU 30 OFF
FRI 31 BALTIMORE
SEPTEMBER
SAT 1 BALTIMORE
SUN 2 BALTIMORE
MON 3 at Cleveland
TUE 4 at Cleveland
WED 5 at Cleveland
THU 6 OFF
FRI 7 at Minnesota
SAT 8 at Minnesota
SUN 9 at Minnesota
MON 10 CHICAGO (AL)
TUE 11 CHICAGO (AL)
WED 12 CHICAGO (AL)
THU 13 MINNESOTA
FRI 14 MINNESOTA
SAT 15 MINNESOTA
SUN 16 MINNESOTA
MON 17 at Pittsburgh
TUE 18 at Pittsburgh
WED 19 at Pittsburgh
THU 20 at Detroit
FRI 21 at Detroit
SAT 22 at Detroit
SUN 23 at Detroit
MON 24 OFF
TUE 25 at Cincinnati
WED 26 at Cincinnati
THU 27 CLEVELAND
FRI 28 CLEVELAND
SAT 29 CLEVELAND
SUN 30 CLEVELAND
This story was originally published September 12, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "KC’s Danny Duffy prepares to ‘push through’ elbow inflammation."