SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy had a tumultuous 2017 on and off the field that included a DUI arrest and wildfires, but the left-hander is ready to start fresh.
"The gamut of life," Duffy said. "Anything there is in life, I was pretty much able to achieve it last year. I'm looking forward to getting back out there and just getting back to the game and making a positive impact."
The 29-year-old Duffy started off 2017 by signing a five-year, $65 million contract in January. He then was named the Royals' Opening Day starter, went on the disabled list twice with oblique and elbow injuries, had elbow surgery after the season and had to evacuate his Santa Barbara, California, home in December because of wildfires.
In August, he was arrested on a driving under the influence charge. Duffy pleaded guilty last month in Overland Park, Kansas, to the DUI charges.
"Everybody has flaws. Everybody had things happen in their life they wish didn't," Duffy said. "Once I hit the bottom floor, there was no way to go but up. I'm excited to erase and re-record.
"What I put myself through in regards to the thing that happened in August last year, I don't want to see any of these kids put anybody else's life in danger like I did. I'm looking forward to really setting out to being the last Royal to have that happened to. That's my ultimate goal."
After getting little guidance from Royals players when he first came up, Duffy wants to help out younger teammates. He has taken 22-year-old left-hander Richard Lovelady, who's in his first big league camp, under his wing.
"We had an extreme lack of leadership from the players' standpoint when I was younger," Duffy said. "I'm not afraid to say that. I got worn out by six dudes that were in the corner of the clubhouse that I had more time than them combined in the big leagues.
"Hindsight is 20-20. You wish you'd popped one of them in the mouth, seriously. I should have punched one in the throat when I had the opportunity because, looking back, that's not right," he said. "I'm not going to name these guys' names as much as I'd like to. They're probably out playing slow-pitch softball right now. But I tell you what, everything comes around. We now have dudes in the clubhouse that can lead by example and try to lead the right way."
In December, Duffy got the call to evacuate his new home, where he had lived for just 37 days, because wildfires were approaching. He was out of his house for 17 days.
"I'm really fortunate that my house is still standing," Duffy said. "It was an interesting situation, the fire coming in from 75 miles away and made it within 500 yards. It was the most impressive and terrifying thing I've ever seen. Everything kind of went south this offseason. We had an earthquake, too."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.