Kansas City Royals: All-Decade Team for 2010s
By Travis Neely
ALL-DECADE TEAM FOR 2010S
STARTING PITCHING
- Starter #1: YORDANO VENTURA (3.89 ERA through 547.2 innings pitched)
- Starter #2: JAMES SHIELDS (3.18 ERA through 455.2 innings pitched)
- Starter #3: DANNY DUFFY (3.98 ERA though 1055.0 innings pitched)
- Starter #4: JASON VARGAS (3.88 ERA through 421.2 innings pitched)
- Starter #5: BRAD KELLER (3.68 ERA through 305.2 innings pitched)
While there were a lot of bad pitchers in the 2010s, there was plenty of good too. Since Zack Greinke only pitched for the team in 2010 and wasn’t all that good that season, he was left off this list. Instead, we went with five guys, who most definitely deserved a spot on this list.
The ace of the team would be Yordano Ventura. The 2012 Futures All-Star game in Kansas City gave most Royals fans their first look at an up and coming star who would later simply go by “Ace”. Ventura started that game for the World Team and pitched a scoreless first inning.
Eventually the sometimes emotional yet competitive Ventura would make his first big league start the following season. During his brief career Ace went 38-31 in 93 regular season starts.
Ventura eventually went 1-1 in three World Series starts to include his memorable Game 6 start in the 2014 World Series that forced a Game 7. Not even a day after he lost a dear friend, Ventura went out there and pitched the game of his life. What a night that was.
Ventura’s life tragically ended at age 25 because of a vehicle accident during the offseason in the 2017 in the Dominican Republic. Royals fans will always remember him fondly and that World Series performance in 2014 is something we’ll always have to remember him by.
James Shields would be the second starter in the rotation. Shields came to the Royals (with Wade Davis) in exchange for Wil Myers before the 2013 season. “Big Game James” posted a record of 27-17 in his two seasons with the Royals. He was really the catalyst to get the Royals the starting pitching they needed to be legitimate contenders.
Danny Duffy would be the third starter in the rotation and he spent the entire decade with the Royals. Even though he struggled with injuries, Duffman has been one of the few bright spots for the Royals in some down seasons. In 2016, he went 12-3 with a 3.51 ERA and threw the most innings in his career (179.2).
Finishing out the rotation would be Jason Vargas and Brad Keller. Vargas was brought in to help out the rotation during a time when the Royals were contending to make the postseason. He did his job wonderfully, serving as the number two starter behind Shields. Vargas made it to an All-Star Game in 2017 and pitched a scoreless inning. He won 18 games that year.
Keller has only pitched two seasons in the majors, but both were with the Royals. During two seasons where there wasn’t much to cheer for, Keller made things exciting. He’s a young pitcher, who should become a star in Kansas City if things continue the way they’re going.
This would be a rotation that could do wonders if the all-decade team were really to play a series.