Kansas City Royals: 5 Bold Predictions for 2014

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy (41) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

3. Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura both have sub 3.50 ERA seasons

This is bold for two reasons. First, there is no guarantee that both of them will make the rotation on the Major League roster. The end of the rotation is still highly up in the air and probably won’t be decided until the end of Spring Training.

Second, both of these guys are young. They are unproven. They are both fragile players and injury-prone. They both struggle mightily with their command at times and have a hard time with going deep into ballgames. With all that being said, everyone in Kansas City knows that Duffy and Ventura both have the stuff to be top-of-the-rotation pitchers.

They are known as electric guys and have shown flashes of it before. In Duffy’s last two injury-shortened seasons, he has had a 3.90 and a 1.85 ERA, respectively, in 11 starts. Ventura has only pitched in three games in his career and they were “September call-up games” last year, but in those three games he finished with a 3.52 ERA. It is possible that both of these guys have stellar seasons. Is it likely? No. But it is a bold prediction.