Danny Duffy (SP, KC) - Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles Kansas City Royals starter Danny Duffy as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 18 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: Danny Duffy's numbers in total for the 2019 season may read a little humdrum at a 4.32 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 89.2 IP across 16 starts for the bottom-dwelling Kansas City Royals, but they have mostly been marred by a poor start to the year in April and a mediocre month of work in June (4.97 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 7.8 K/9 in five starts). Isolated from that, Duffy has been his usual serviceable self for his time on the mound in July, and he has been purely exemplary in his most recent showings. Over his last two starts (a nicely rounded 12.0 IP), he has slung for a 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 16 strikeouts (12.0 K/9), a single home run, and a lone walk allowed.

It typically bodes well when you are able to keep damage at a minimum from a variety of different angles, and the southpaw likes to attack opposing batters with a well located, modest fastball and a persistently potent slider-curveball combination for the majority of remaining pitches. Duffy has lingering issues with allowing a bit too much hard contact (and a tad too little soft contact) on batted balls, but with his recent aptitude for controlling batters through the strike zone and power limitation, not to mention finally forcing opponents into a 1.17 GB/FB ratio (38.2% grounders) for July, he has built a solid foundation for continued success. Even as a starter for a last-place squad, those kind of starts from Danny Duffy will always be worth being a part of.