Royals lefty Danny Duffy to have MRI on elbow

After just 13 pitches, Royals lefty Danny Duffy was forced to exit his start against the White Sox on Sunday. Cather Humberto Quintero noticed something awry with Duffy's delivery, but Duffy had felt something in his elbow even earlier in his brief outing. “I felt it on the second pitch of the game, a 95-mile-an-hour heater," Duffy told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. "It was that extension. It wasn’t from the acceleration. We’ll have to see what it is.”

On Monday, they will see what it is, as Duffy is slated for an MRI back in Kansas City. Earlier this season, Duffy was limited by elbow inflammation, and in the spring of 2010 he suffered some elbow soreness.

All of this is unwelcome news for Royals rotation already stretched thin by the biceps injury to Jonathan Sanchez. Beyond that, a pitching-weak organization like Kansas City can scarcely afford to have one of its top young arms go down with elbow trouble.