(kcroyals/ap) The Kansas City Royals have selected Danny Duffy to be the Opening Day starter for July 24 vs the Cleveland Indians.
This will be Duffy’s third Opening Day start. He also opened the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The Royals received some good news on Tuesday when six-time All-Star and five-time American League Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Salvador Perez was activated from the injured list. Perez had revealed during the first day of Summer Camp that he had tested positive for COVID-19. To be reinstated, players must produce two negative tests at least 24 hours apart.
Perez immediately suited up in Tuesday night’s intrasquad game and delivered a line-drive RBI single up the middle off Jakob Junis in his first at-bat.
11 Major League Baseball umpires have opted out this season, choosing not to work games in the shortened schedule because of concerns over the coronavirus.
There are 76 full-time MLB umpires and more than 20 of them are age 55 or over.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and Washington Nationals infielder Ryan Zimmerman are among a dozen or so players who won’t participate this year because of health issues. The 60-game, virus-abbreviated season begins July 23.
