Kansas City Royals: Opening Day starters over past decade

2015 OPENING DAY STARTER – YORDANO VENTURA

It is incredibly bittersweet to now reflect upon the fact that the pitcher who started on Opening Day in the year in which the Royals won only their second World Series championship died over two years ago. And yet, so it is.

Yordano Ventura, then entering just his third Major League season, took the mound on Opening Day of 2015 in Kansas City against the Chicago White Sox. Ventura didn’t exactly light it up that day, but he helped set the tone for the season as he pitched a rather seamless six innings, giving up only four hits, one walk, and one earned run on 78 pitches. He earned the “W” in a Royals 10-1 victory.

The rest of the regular season seamed to breeze by, too, as the Royals would add another 94 regular season victories before it was all said and done, finishing a league-best 95-67. Kansas City won the American League Central, survived the Houston Astros in the Divisional Round and the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series before finishing off the New York Mets for eternal glory.

For 2012, Ventura finished 13-8 with a 4.08 ERA over 163.1 innings pitched. He struck out 156 batters and finished with a 103 ERA+, 3.57 FIP, and 1.298 WHIP.

Just 23 when he made that Opening Day start, Ventura would pitch one more season before dying on January 22, 2017.

Gone entirely too soon.