This spring has been a test to young Duffy's control so far as he has walked 6 in just 5 innings of work. Yesterday was more of the same for Danny after as he surrendered a 3 run homer to Drew Stubbs after walking the previous two hitters. In a boxscore it would look like a pitcher struggling with control but after looking at the pitches before and after the home run you can see it was a tale of two fastballs.
Prior to Drew Stubbs HR 19 Fastballs = 12 Balls 7 Strikes
Hitters Johnny Gomes, Ramon Hernandez, Chris Valaika, Ryan Hanigan
After the Drew Stubbs HR 15 Fastballs = 3 Balls 12 Strikes
Hitters Edgar Renteria, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce
For a guy that runs an average fastball up there around 93 miles per hour while peaking yesterday at 95.1 I would like to see him attack the zone the way he did following the HR. It's likely that he was nibbling more because prior to the home run he was facing all righties while post home run he faced a couple lefties but still it's the difference in facing Jay Bruce, Scott Rolen and Joey Votto and attacking the zone with them as opposed to nibbling against Chris Valaika and Ryan Hannigan.
I hope he learned from that appearance and will trust his stuff more in the future.
Found out Orlando Calixte is already in Arizona according to Baseball America, I'll try to get some video of the young 19 year old who will likely play this season for one of the three Royals rookie clubs.
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