Royals’ Danny Duffy To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Strained Oblique

Kansas City Royal’s left-hander Danny Duffy has been placed on the 10-day DL by his club. He suffered from an oblique strain while pitching against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. He is likely to miss six to eight weeks.

Duffy was torn apart during Sunday’s start, giving up six runs on nine hits. As such, he was pulled from the game in the fifth. Despite his poor showing, neither Duffy nor manager Ned Yost mentioned the injury after the game during the post-game press conference.

The lefty becomes the second Royals pitcher to land on the disabled list in the past week – right hander Nate Karns is also on the 10-day DL with an elbow injury.

Eric Skoglund was called up from the Royal’s minor league system to replace Duffy and pitched 6 1/3 innings of shut-out ball, giving up only two hits, walking only one, and striking out five on Tuesday. He was awarded the win as the Royals went on to beat Justin Verlander and the Tigers, 1-0. After being pulled by Yost, Skoglund received a standing ovation from a thankful Kansas City crowd.

Skoglund, the Royals number three prospect, is envisioned to be a middle of the rotation pitcher and was not expected to be in the Majors until 2018. If he continues to produce strong start’s in Duffy’s place, he may cement himself as part of the permanent rotation for the remainder of the 2017 season.

Before hitting the DL, Duffy was 4-4 with 3.54 ERA in 68 innings pitched during the 2017 season. Duffy has been a Royal his entire seven-year career and signed a five-year, $65 million extension in January. He will be eligible for arbitration and could hit the free agent market after this season. He won a World Series with the Royals in 2015.

The Royals, with 22 wins and 29 losses, currently have one of the worst records in all baseball and are in last place in the AL Central.