Yordano Ventura named Kansas City Royals’ number three starter
Sep 17, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) delivers a pitch in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. (John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports)
Late last week, as reported by Barry Bloom of MLB.com, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost named Yordano Ventura to the third spot in the Royals starting rotation. The move was done in part as a result of Yost stating that he has seen enough from Ventura to place him as the number three starter in the Kansas City rotation. The reason for the move came on March 17, where in his start against Texas, Ventura threw six shutout innings of four hit ball. He was originally in line to take the fifth spot, after beating out Danny Duffy to get into the rotation.
According to Baseball America, Ventura is one of the best pitching prospects within the Kansas City system. He made his Major League debut for the Royals late last season, making three starts for the club. During those three starts, Ventura went 0-1 with an ERA of 3.52. He also struck out eleven while only walking six in the duration of those three starts. He is the most big league ready arm of any Royals pitching prospect, and he possesses the stuff to bring it at this level. This year will be the test to see if he can have an impact for the Royals over the course of the season.
The two starters who are ahead of Ventura in the rotation are James Shields, who is the opening day starter for the Royals. At number two is Jason Vargas, who is new to the Kansas City rotation after signing a four-year, $32 million deal in the off season. Behind Ventura in the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are Jeremy Guthrie and Bruce Chen, rounding out a Royals rotation that on paper looks to be a stable one with potential.
Ventura is a bright spot on a Royals team that looks to be getting brighter with each passing day. He is the just very beginning for young Royals pitching talent to reach the Majors, and this season he will be proving his worth to Kansas City in the middle of the rotation.