I’m sure Danny Duffy was shocked after picking up the local newspaper earlier this week and learning that he was done for the year. The Dodgers pet project has yet to officially pick up a ball since a trade brought him to LA last July.
Several setbacks have kept the left-hander on the sidelines since a July 16th, 2021 start while still with the Royals. He had offseason surgery to repair a flexor injury in his left arm but still signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers even after contemplating retirement at one point.
Duffy had been ramping up his throwing program in recent weeks but another setback earlier this week looked like it could spell the end of his season once again. LA manager Dave Roberts didn’t sound too optimistic on Tuesday when he reported that Duffy was dealing with significant soreness in his surgically repaired left elbow.
Now he’s backtracking his statement a bit.
There was some soreness. I think it was more of a, the soreness was… he was done for the year, which is not my intention. It was some soreness, which players go through, but he came back and threw the baseball really well.
On Saturday, Duffy pitched in a sim game in Arizona where he touched 93 miles-per-hour on his fastball and reportedly came out of the game well.
With the calendar ticking closer to September and October, there’s not a whole lot of time for the veteran to get out there and prove that he can still get big league hitters out. Moreover, there’s not exactly an abundance of room on the active roster for the lefty, if he can even make it that far. And, by the time the postseason rolls around, the Dodgers fully expect to have Brusdar Graterol (returning on Monday) and Blake Treinen back in the bullpen, both of whom are the more proven commodities for Dave Roberts.
