IBC

Danny Duffy dominated the Reds in his spring debut Friday, striking out five of the six batters he faced in two scoreless innings of work.
Among his strikeout victims were Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Scott Rolen. Duffy's performance elicited raves from the assembled media, prompting the Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton to proclaim his two innings of work were "as good as (he's) seen in a long time." Fox Sports Kansas City's Joel Goldberg called the outing "dominant." Duffy struggled to a 5.64 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 105 1/3 innings in 2011, but did tally 87 strikeouts. Baseball America's No. 68 ranked prospect last season, Duffy will open the year in the Royals' rotation, and is a low-risk, high-reward flier for players in mixed leagues.

**Another unconventional but successful lefty of note is Oakland Athletics prospect Tom Milone, who threw five shutout innings in an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, fanning seven.

Including this game, Milone has thrown 17.2 innings this spring with a 16/1 K/BB ratio and a 3.57 ERA with 13 hits allowed. Acquired from the Washington Nationals in the Gio Gonzalez deal over the winter, Milone doesn't throw hard but is extremely deceptive, has superb control, and posted an ungodly 170/20 K/BB ratio in 174 innings between Triple-A and the majors last year. I know some people are skeptical about him, but I'm a believer at this point.

I like Milone too, he could be a steal especially pitching in that park. Too bad he can't expect any run support.