Danny Duffy Quits Baseball
SURPRISE, Ariz.| Left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy, one of the Royals’ top prospects, left camp late Tuesday night after informing club officials that he was quitting baseball.
“Danny informed us (Tuesday) that his desire is to leave baseball at this time to reassess his life priorities,” assistant general manager J.J. Picollo confirmed in a statement released by the club.
“Should Danny decide in the future to return to the game, we will be happy at that time to discuss the possibility.”
Picollo subsequently admitted Duffy’s decision caught him by surprise.
“He said he just needs to get his head together,” Picollo said. “It’s disappointing because he’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here. All we can do at this point is try to be supportive.”
Club officials say Duffy’s decision appears unrelated to a recent injury — a strained left elbow — that was expected to prevent him from pitching in games until mid-May. They also dismissed any suggestion that it was motivated by some looming negative revelation.
Plans called for Duffy, 21, to open the season at Class AA Northwest Arkansas. He is ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect in the organization after going 19-10 with a 2.49 ERA in 52 games since his selection in the third round of the 2007 draft.
Duffy’s invitation this spring to big-league camp indicated the organization’s belief that he might be ready to pitch this season in the majors.
“You don’t invite nonroster pitchers to camp unless you think that,” Picollo agreed. “You do that because you want to expose them to this atmosphere.”
Duffy’s resume already includes an appearance in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game, an honor reserved for the game’s top prospects. He was generally viewed as the organization’s most-advanced, left-handed pitching prospect.
