The Royals have released right-hander Tyler Duffey, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided this afternoon. Duffey pitched out of the club’s bullpen earlier this year but was outrighted off the 40-man roster back in May.
The 31-year-old is a veteran of 10 big league seasons who first made his debut with the Twins back in 2015. A starting pitcher back then, Duffey impressed in ten starts with Minnesota in his rookie season as he posted a 3.10 ERA and 3.24 FIP in 58 innings of work down the stretch. Unfortunately for Duffey, he struggled badly in his first full season in a rotation role as a big leaguer. The righty made 26 starts for the Twins in 2016, but he posted an atrocious 6.43 ERA with a lackluster 4.73 FIP in his 133 innings of work. That performance ended his days as a starter pitcher, but after some mixed results early in his move to the bullpen he emerged as a steady contributor in the Twins’ relief corps.
From 2019 to 2021, Duffey posted an excellent 2.69 ERA with a 3.16 FIP while striking out an excellent 29.8% of batters in 144 innings of work. Those impressive numbers led the Twins to bring Duffey back in 2022 on a one-year, $3.8MM contract signed just before the non-tender deadline, but that move did not end up working out well for Minnesota. Duffey wound up regressing significantly as his ERA ballooned to 4.91 in 44 innings of work while his strikeout rate plummeted to just 21.1%. Duffey’s struggles eventually proved significant enough that the Twins opted to part ways with the righty entirely, designating him for assignment in early August of that year.
The righty briefly caught on with the Yankees and Rangers late in the year after being cut loose by the Twins but wouldn’t appear in the big leagues again until October of the following year when he was briefly brought up by the Cubs nearly eight months after he signed a minor league deal to pitch in the organization. While he managed just two innings of work in Chicago, Duffey posted a respectable 3.77 ERA in 45 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A for the club’s Iowa affiliate last year. That performance was enough to earn Duffey another minor league deal last winter, this time in the Royals organization.
Since signing with the Royals, 2024 has proven to be a rollercoaster year for Duffey. The right-hander underwent a procedure to treat melanoma during Spring Training after a cancerous mole was discovered during his physical after signing with Kansas City, and while he didn’t make the Opening Day roster he did get selected to the big leagues in late April. Unfortunately, the right-hander’s brief stay in the majors did not go well as he surrendered a 5.00 ERA in nine appearances and walked 19% of the batters he faced. Duffey was outrighted to the minors in late May and has pitched to an excellent 2.01 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work since his demotion.
He’ll now head back into free agency in search of an opportunity to crack a big league roster elsewhere. Given the righty’s track record and success in the minors this year, it’s certainly feasible to imagine a team being interested in bringing Duffey into the fold at least as a non-roster depth option, and it’s possible a team could even be willing to give him a shot at the big league level in fairly short order.
“Unfortunately for Duffey, he struggled badly in his first full season as a big leaguer saw him struggle badly in a rotation role.”
all of life is a struggle. lol