The Royals announced Friday afternoon that Danny Duffy and Blake Wood would both undergo Tommy John surgery within the next two weeks.
It was already well established that Duffy was going down this path. Wood, a 26-year-old right-hander, had been on the DL since the start of the season with what the team was calling right nerve irritation. It’s not exactly a stunning revelation that his injury turned out to be something more, but Tommy John is still a disappointing development. Wood had a 3.75 ERA in 69 2/3 innings out of the pen for Kansas City last year.
Since Wood is a reliever, he’ll have a better chance of making it back and contributing for the Royals in 2013. Duffy will likely be back pitching in games by next June or July as well, but he’s unlikely to be much of an asset for the team before 2014.