Kansas City Royals Make Bold Move, Promote Prospect Yordano Ventura
Jul 14, 2013; Flushing , NY, USA; World pitcher Yordano Ventura throws a pitch during the 2013 All Star Futures Game at Citi Field. USA defeated World 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Royals are scratching and clawing to remain in the hunt for the postseason, and will look to prospect Yordano Ventura for a boost Tuesday night.
As first reported by The Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton, Ventura is being called up to replace the injured Danny Duffy in the Royals’ rotation. Instead of turning a veteran like Wade Davis or Luis Mendoza to fill in, Kansas City is making a bold move in promoting the 22-year-old to make his Major League debut.
Ventura is probably just as likely to get shelled than put together a gem, but this is the Royals trying to catch lightning in a bottle and steal a game against the Cleveland Indians. At this point in the season, division rivals see so much of each other it’s hard to sneak in any surprises. With his power fastball and deceptive delivery, it’s going to be very difficult for Indians’ hitters who’ve never seen Ventura.
We’ve seen enough of Davis and Mendoza to know it’s not likely you’re going to get a solid performance from either one of them. Will Smith has settled in quite nicely to the bullpen, and hasn’t made a start in months, so I’m inclined just to leave him in a position where he’s successful for now. Why not see if Ventura can provide a boost in front of the home crowd?
Signed out of the Dominican Republic, Ventura was one of the hardest-throwing minor league starter this season. Despite his modest 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame, Ventura can touch 100 mph on a regular basis. The fastball is his marquee pitch, but the right-hander also has gotten positive reviews on his curve and is developing a changeup.
Ventura started out this season by dominating in 11 Double-A starts, posting a 2.34 ERA while averaging 11.5 K/9. He wasn’t as impressive in his first crack at Triple-A hitters, registering a 3.74 ERA and 9.5 K/9 in 14 starts. Ventura also walked nearly a batter more per inning in Triple-A (3.9 BB/9 vs. 3.1 BB/9 in Double-A).
Despite his impressive arsenal, Ventura is a controversial prospect due to his slight build. Some believe his long-term role is going to end up being in the bullpen as a dominant late-inning reliever. Ventura showed no sign of slowing down this season, however, as he lasted six innings in four of his final six starts. I’m hoping he can remain a starter mainly because Ace Ventura is an all-time great nickname.
In his most recent outing, Ventura helped the Omaha Storm Chasers to a 2-1 win over Salt Lake in Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Championship. He pitched six innings of one-run ball while striking out six. Omaha went on to win the series 3-1.
Ventura was skipped in the rotation in the first round of the PCL playoffs for showing up late to the ballpark, but his callup certainly suggest he learned his lesson and the team isn’t going to hold that slip up against him.
The Royals entered tonight’s action 3.5 game back of the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers in the American League Wild Card race.