Danny Duffy Signs With Mexican League’s Piratas de Campeche

Former big league left-hander Danny Duffy is signing with the Piratas de Campeche of the Mexican League, according to a report from Robert Murray of Fansided.

Duffy, 36, is a veteran of 11 major league seasons who last pitched in the big leagues back in 2021. The lefty was a third-round pick by the Royals back in 2007 and never pitched at the big league level with another club. Duffy’s first season in the majors back in 2011 saw him make 20 starts, though his 5.64 ERA left much to be desired. Despite that middling rookie season, Duffy earned a spot in the club’s starting rotation the following year. He ultimately made just 11 appearances between 2012 and 2013 due to Tommy John surgery, however, though he did post an impressive 2.94 ERA across those outings.

When Duffy had his first healthy season since his rookie year in 2014, he was extremely successful with a 2.53 ERA in 149 1/3 innings of work split between 25 starts and six long relief outings. Duffy’s success came in spite of a lackluster 18.6% strikeout rate, however, and his lackluster peripherals caught up to him during a far more pedestrian 2015 season. Once again pitching primarily out of the rotation with occasional cameos in the bullpen, Duffy’s results took a big step back that year as he pitched to a 4.02 ERA (102 ERA+) in 136 2/3 innings during the regular season. The 2014 and ’15 seasons also saw Duffy make the only postseason appearances of his career as Kansas City went to the World Series in back to back campaigns and won it all in 2015. Duffy’s contributions to those runs were relatively minimal as he pitched to a 5.06 in 10 2/3 innings, though that did include outings in the club’s Game 1 and Game 4 victories against the Mets in 2015.

Following the Royals’ championship, Duffy pitched quite well in 2016 with a 3.51 ERA in 179 2/3 frames with a solid 25.7% strikeout rate. That showing was enough to earn Duffy a five-year extension with the club worth $65MM. The next several years saw Duffy provide generally solid middle-to-back of the rotation production for the Royals, with a roughly league average 4.42 ERA (102 ERA+) in 87 appearances (86 starts) from 2017 to 2020. When the final year of Duffy’s deal in Kansas City came around, he enjoyed a phenomenal start to the season as he posted a 2.51 ERA with a 25.8% strikeout rate in 61 innings of work, but he found himself slowed by a flexor strain. Duffy was traded to the Dodgers over the summer, but did not throw a pitch for L.A. that year.

Since being traded away from the Royals, Duffy pitched in the minor leagues for the Dodgers and Rangers but did not crack either club’s big league roster. Last season, he posted a 5.50 ERA in ten outings for Texas at the Triple-A level before being granted his release in May of last year. He then pitched to a 3.24 ERA in the Puerto Rican Winter League, which evidently caught the attention of the Piratas de Campeche. Duffy will now get the opportunity to continue his professional career in Mexico on a team that also features former big league names like Hanser Alberto and Chris Carter.