KC Royals: Ranking the Starting Pitchers
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura (30) – Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
If you had told me at the beginning of the 2015 season that I’d be ranking Yordano Ventura as the second worst pitcher in the rotation, I would have thought you were crazy, but low and behold, this is where Ventura comes in at.
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After showing the world how dominant he could be in Game 6 of the World Series, Yordano Ventura has had a rollercoaster of a season so far. He was thought by many to be the “ace” of this staff and maybe that pressure has gotten to him, I don’t know, but Ventura has not lived up to the hype.
It’s a bummer because Royals fans have seen glimpses of brilliance from the young pitcher, but he has not delivered in every start. Ventura currently poses a 4.68 ERA and a 3-6 record in 12 starts.
While looking electric near the beginning of the season, Ventura struggled to stay healthy and left his first two starts prematurely, one from a hand cramp and the other from a muscle spasm. The next start saw him getting ejected in the fifth inning due to beaning Brett Lawrie with a pitch.
Ventura also had some anger issues when he, as mentioned above, hit Lawrie with a pitch, got into a pointless argument with Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout, and may or may not have been the cause of the all-out brawl in Chicago against the White Sox in April.
After showing the world how dominant he could be in Game 6 of the World Series, Yordano Ventura has had a rollercoaster of a season so far. He was thought by many to be the “ace” of this staff and maybe that pressure has gotten to him, I don’t know, but Ventura has not lived up to the hype.
Throughout the season, Ventura has been very up and down with his starts. He went 2-0 in his first two outings and since then has only recorded one win. That one win was a dominant one against the Cincinnati Reds when Ventura went up against Reds’ ace Johnny Cueto, but that was the last win Yordano has seen.
Ventura has really struggled in his past two outings, only going three innings each time and surrendering a total of six runs during that span (four in the first one, two in the second). The second time Ventura went three innings was due to numbness in his thumb, yet again seeing the young pitcher exiting a game early due to injury.
Now I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but that confidence in Yordano Ventura isn’t there for me anymore. I no longer feel that the Kansas City Royals have a for-sure win in the bag and have started thinking, “Will he log a quality start in this game?” Not a question you want to ask for the supposed ace of your staff.
Next: Righting the Ship