Tyler Duffey

Tyler Blinn Duffey was born on December 27, 1990 in Houston, Texas.

The Minnesota Twins selected him in round five of the 2012 Draft. He had been a relief pitcher at Rice University, sharing the closer role with 2012 Twins second round pick JT Chargois. Minnesota converted Duffey to a starter in the minors, and he reached the Majors in 2015.

Duffey got shelled in his Major League debut, allowing six runs over two innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 5th. Things quckly got better, and Duffey was arguably the Twins best starting pitcher of the final two months of the 2015 season. He tossed six shutout innings against the Cleveland Indians in his second career start, striking out seven. Duffey followed that up with 7.2 innings of two run ball the Baltimore Orioles. He finished his rookie year with a 5-1 record and a 3.10 ERA over ten starts. His only loss was the disastrous debut against Toronto.

Many players on the Twins had a disappointing season in 2016, and Duffey was no exception. His nine wins led the team, but he still finished with a 6.43 ERA over 26 starts. They moved him to the bullpen in 2017, where he posted a 4.94 ERA over 56 appearances. Duffey jumped up and down between Triple-A and the Majors in 2018, struggling with a 7.20 ERA in 25.0 big league innings that summer.

He began the 2019 campaign in Triple-A, but was called up in mid-April. Duffey was initially handed low leverage long relief roles, but he started to earn the trust of Twins rookie manager Rocco Baldelli as the year went along. He finished June with a 2.42 ERA through 22 appearances, but Minnesota was either trailing or ahead by at least five at the time of his entrance in 18 of those games. Duffey began to see action in higher leverage situations during the second half, and finished 2019 with 16 holds and a 2.50 ERA. His WHIP was 1.002 and he struck out more than 12 hitters per nine innings.

Minnesota had the league's fourth best bullpen ERA during the COVID shortened 2020 season, and Duffey was a huge part of it. He recorded a 1.88 ERA and a 0.792 WHIP across 22 appearances. His 2021 season wasn't as strong, but he still produced a 3.18 ERA in a career high 64 appearances. Between 2019 and 2021, he was 9-5 with 2.69 ERA and a 1.063 WHIP. Duffey had three saves and struck out 10.9 hitters per nine innings during that span.

Things began to unravel for Duffey in 2022. He was designated for assignment on August 5th with an ERA of 4.91 and just 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Duffey pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 2023 and the Kansas City Royals in 2024. He spent most of those seasons in Triple-A, but had brief big league stints in each of them. As of 2025, he is pitching professionally in Mexico.