Kansas City Royals: Danny Duffy Injury Is Pivotal Point in Franchise's Future

It is being reported that Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy could need Tommy John Surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, becoming the second prized pitching prospect within the organization in as many seasons to require the procedure (John Lamb in 2011).

After a forgetful rookie season in 2011, Duffy had started to show signs of what scouts had been touting the last few years. His 3.90 earned run average and 28 strikeouts are first on the team among starting pitchers.

This is a devastating blow to a team that has relied heavily on its youth to bring the franchise back to prominence.

Starting pitching has always been the Achilles' heel for the Royals and this year is no different. However, in light of the injuries to Duffy and Lamb, the slow development of Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi not quite being ready and the failed Luke Hochevar experiment—although Ned Yost and Dayton Moore will find every excuse in the books to defend it—if this organization legitimately desires to win during this window of opportunity then owner David Glass will need to open his wallet to attract quality free-agent pitchers to Kansas City.

Bruce Chen and a handful of others have done a decent job, but this city deserves more than tip-toeing the south side of the mediocrity line. And with the injuries and the minor league arms not quite able to keep up with the bats and their arrival to Kansas City, it signals a different kind of panic than before.

Having systematically sprinkled the talented youth onto the big league roster over the last few seasons, it is now time for Moore to demand that ownership give him the green light to top it off with veterans who can anchor what is viewed to be the missing piece to the puzzle: the starting rotation.

If not, as a downtrodden fanbase began to see a tiny glimmer of the end of this cycle of futility, it is possible that it may just be entering the home stretch of how bad it could really get in Kansas City as it relates to baseball and the Royals.

Contact Jeremy at [e-mail], on Twitter @KCPopFlyBoy and at popflyboys.com.