The Royals will promote reliever Tyler Duffey to the big leagues, according to reporter Jon Heyman. No corresponding move has been announced, Anne Rogers reports the team will option Anthony Veneziano to Omaha after his outing on Sunday. The move will not require a 40-man roster spot, since Jordan Lyles was placed on the restricted list last week, and Rogers tweets that Lyles “will likely be sidelined for some time.”
Duffey is a nine-year MLB vet the Royals signed as a minor league free agent over the winter. He has a 4.57 ERA in 477 career big-league innings with the Twins and Cubs with 8.8 strikeouts and 2.6 walks-per-nine-innings. In six outings for Omaha, he had a 3.24 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 5 walks in 8 1⁄3 innings. The 33-year-old relies mostly on a slider with a 92 mph fastball and has a career 46 percent groundball rate. When he reported to camp with the Royals, he noticed a cancerous mole, requiring surgery to remove it.
Duffey has had trouble keeping it in the zone in Omaha (13.5% BB%). Looks like he’s got stuff based on spin rates/Whiff%.
He has 477 major league innings though, so guessing they want the experienced guys up first to see what they have before locking themselves in on others. https://t.co/t3MSZEHJrh pic.twitter.com/6FueGHp1VN
— Josh Keiser (@joshkeiser40) April 22, 2024
Jordan Lyles was placed on the restricted list on Saturday to deal with an undisclosed personal matter. Players on the restricted list are not subject to the 40-man roster. Players can go on the restricted list to deal with personal or legal matters, or in some cases, for unexcused absences. Players on the restricted list do not accrue service time or pay.