Obviously, Royals left-hander Danny Duffy is hugely
disappointed over the likelihood of having to have Tommy John elbow surgery
soon.
But Duffy also sees no reason why he can't come back better and stronger sometime
during the 2013 season.
"I'm very positive going in," Duffy said Wednesday, speaking publicly
for the first time since he was diagnosed as having a torn ulnar collateral
ligament in his left elbow.
"They've got the surgery down to a science now. I feel very lucky to have
this happen in this period of time as opposed to 20 years ago. Dr. (Lewis)
Yocum or whoever it's going to be to do the surgery will do a great job. You
can come back stronger. Just look at (Stephen) Strasburg. I could name a bunch of
people."
Straburg, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2009 draft, had Tommy John surgery in
2010. He now leads the Washington Nationals with a 3-1 record and a 2.25 ERA.
"You have to stay positive," Duffy said. "My goal is to come
back by next June. That will depend obviously on how hard I work in
rehab."
Duffy first experienced elbow issues back in 2010. He felt some pain in the
elbow again this April, was shut down for a start, and then felt discomfort
again in his last start on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox. Duffy said he
felt the Royals did the right thing by letting him pitch again after he
originally felt some pain in April.
"It's very frustrating," Duffy said. "It's something I can't
control. We have the best training staff in baseball, in my opinion. I had the
problem back in 2010, and I got over it.
"But once you do something like that to a ligament, it never really goes
away. I did everything I could and the training staff did everything they could
to help it not come back. But sometimes it's out of your control."
Duffy said he probably would have surgery within the next two weeks. First,
he'll visit with Dr. Yocum on Friday in Tempe, Ariz., to get another opinion.
Asked if he thought there was any chance Dr. Yocum might not recommend surgery,
Duffy laughed and said, "If he tells me I don't need it, yeah, I'm going
to feel pretty pumped. But you have to prepare for the worst. I'm a guy who
likes to have a plan, so I'll brace for the worst. Just rehab my butt off for
12 months. That's my plan."
Duffy said his elbow felt fine during warm-ups Sunday and didn't feel any pain
until his second pitch of the game.
"I threw the first pitch and got through it real nice," he said.
"Second pitch, I tried to go up and in. That's when I felt it. From then
on, each pitch was kind of hectic. I can't thank (catcher Humberto) Quintero
enough for coming to get me. He's a seasoned vet who saw something. It could
have ended up a lot worse."
Duffy, 23, is the Royals' top pitching prospect and seemed poised to have a big
season. His fastball was reaching 97 mph, and his command was greatly improved
from last season. He was 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA in six starts this year.
"I'm not going to get too down on myself," Duffy said. "I'm just
going to miss being around my family (the Royals) for a while. It's going to be
tough watching the games and not being able to help out. We'll go from there.
I'll keep my spirits up. This happened for a reason. I have to believe
that."
Duffy said he will continue to support his teammates, especially through his
Twitter account. On Tuesday night, Duffy tweeted virtually a play-by-play of
the Royals game. He said he will continue to tweet about the Royals as he
rehabs.
"Oh, yes, believe it," he said, smiling. "I can't text my
teammates during the game so I have to tweet. It's the only way I can cheers my
guys on. That was a lot of fun the other night and I loved seeing the fans'
reaction. That was great."
