Duffy did do a hell of a job.

New rule for the Royals organization: All of the Royals promising pitching prospects must quit, and return, to baseball at some point of their minor league careers.

When you're compared to Kershaw, you're doing it right:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Danny Duffy forced 35 swings and misses today, tied with Clayton Kershaw for most in single game in last 15 seasons. <a href="https://t.co/tQ2Z7rTtHi">pic.twitter.com/tQ2Z7rTtHi</a></p>&mdash; Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBTN/status/760295028317118464">August 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Incredible performance...he's turned the corner. Great job

There has only been like 6 game scores of 100 or more in the past 15 years for pitchers. Scherzer twice, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Cain, Brandon Morrow and Curt Schilling.

Tonight was the 7th.

I've made a lot of great posts on the Royals threads, but this might be the best:


http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...&postcount=344

Rut Roh
@hoynsie: Salazar says he's feeling pain in his right elbow. Says it's been bothering him since around the All-Star game.

He's also been dogshit since the ASB. That at least explains it.

There were two things I wanted to see Duffy do, thinking they might help him:

1) Go more to his slider and dump the overhand curve he couldn't command. The slider has become a much better breaking pitch for him.

2) Dump the windup and simplify his mechanics, going out of the stretch.

BOth of those things have been big bonuses for him. A legit breaking pitch to get swings and misses has helped him spike his K rate and reduce PCs because he's not giving up 5 million foul balls. Pair the ability to miss bats and pitch deeper with the funky contact his stuff induces, and you've got a really great combo.

It's been a perfect storm, with these two being big parts of his success. His ability to keep the ball out of the middle as often and throwing that changeup down (but not too far) is getting a number of swing and misses are two more keys. Strange that it took him this long to move away from the slow curve. When thrown perfectly, it was a good pitch. If not, it was either an easy take or ended up in the seats.

I know it's been the refrain for 3 years, but if we could just get a bit more consistency from Ventura (big if, I know), our rotation next season could be pretty decent. Duffy/Ventura/Volquez/Kennedy/? isn't too bad assuming Duffy continues to deliver.

Minor and Vargas also hopefully in the mix

Two number 5 starters. Yay?

Seriously, we have to stop counting on pitchers with injuries to make an impact in our starting rotation. It's just not a realistic approach to being a competitive team.

Well if my #5 starter posted a sub 4 ERA 4 of the last 5 years that is a good spot to be in.

Is that pre or post TJ?