KC Royals: Edinson Volquez Was The Ace In 2015

The KC Royals had all sorts of issues with their starting rotation in 2015. One of the consistently good pitchers was Edinson Volquez.

Edinson Volquez joined the Kansas City Royals before the 2015 season began, signing a two-year deal with the team. Volquez’s signing was due in part to former ace James Shields departing for a bigger contract after the 2014 World Series run came up just short.

While many were probably bummed about Shields leaving and being replaced by a guy who had an ERA under 4.00 only twice in his previous ten-year career, Volquez proved himself big time to the organization and to the fans and ended up becoming the unquestioned ace of the staff.

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He may not have been looked at as an ace, but to KC Royals fans, if Volquez was pitching, you knew your team had a good shot of winning the ball game. As long as the offense showed up that is.

Edinson Volquez ended the 2015 regular season with a 3.55 ERA in 34 games and 200.1 innings pitched. He posted a 13-9 record, and was the Royals’ Game 1 starter in both the ALCS and in the World Series.

Speaking of both of those series, Volquez was a stud.

In Game 1 of the ALCS, he pitched six innings of shutout baseball and then let the bullpen preserve the lead. Despite hitting a roadblock in the sixth inning with two men on and two outs, Volquez got out of the jam after a 37-pitch inning, and showed that he can go the distance.

Volquez was a huge part in getting the Royals to their first World Series title in 30 years, and will continue to be the ace for this team in 2016.

Volquez also took the mound for Game 1 of the World Series, and went six innings, giving up three earned runs in the process. Volquez then pitched Game 5, the eventual final game of the MLB season, less than a week after learning his father had died.

Volquez did the best he could in New York that night, and certainly kept the Royals in position for the big comeback they had. He only allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings of work and then let the bullpen do their job to keep Kansas City in the game.

As we all know, the Royals came back and won that game for all of the marbles. Volquez was a huge part in getting the Kansas City Royals to their first World Series title in 30 years, and will continue to be the ace for this team in 2016.

I wrote a post on the top ten moments from the postseason this year, and one of my moments was the pitching of Edinson Volquez in the World Series. He and Chris Young (who I also mentioned in the article) were both huge pieces in getting the Kansas City Royals to, and ultimately winning, the World Series.

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Some might disagree with Edinson Volquez being the ace of this rotation, but I think his dominant pitching throughout the regular season and postseason proved he should be the number one guy next season.

Sure, Yordano Ventura has the ability to be the ace, but he faltered a lot in 2015 and let his emotions get to him. Ventura had a good stretch of impressive starts, but he wasn’t as consistently good as Volquez was.

Even Johnny Cueto wasn’t the ace for this team when push came to shove, and he was brought to Kansas City to BE the unquestioned ace of the staff. That wasn’t what happened though.

Next: Ten Best Royals Games Before 2015 All-Star Break

It was Edinson Volquez as the ace in 2015, and it’ll be Edinson Volquez as the ace in 2016.

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