It is a sad day in the world of MLB. News broke this morning that Yordano Ventura, a starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, has passed away in a car accident in the Dominican Republic on Sunday morning. Ventura was only 25-years-old at the time of his unfortunate passing.
The loss of Ventura marks the second young starting pitcher that MLB has lost forever over the course of the last half year. MLB lost Jose Fernandez to a boating accident on September 25th, 2016 at the age of 24. With that accident fresh in the minds of fans, this news comes as a sharp blow.
Ventura was a pitcher with plenty of talent and promise. After signing as an International free agent back in 2008, Ventura jumped to the top of the Royals’ prospect rankings in a few years. The young right-hander from the Dominican Republic was seen as the future ace of the Royals, who have had plenty of success developing bats and were still in need of a big name pitcher.
[Kenny]
He would make his Big League debut in 2013, getting three starts on the season. In his first full season in 2014, Ventura would have the best campaign of his career. Over the course of 30 starts, Ventura would post a 3.20 ERA, a WHIP of 1.30 and 14 wins to go along with 159 strikeouts.
The next two seasons would see mixed results for Ventura. His fiery personality would lead to multiple on-field altercations with his opponents as well as some suspensions. These on-field battles seemed to mess with Ventura’s ability to be effective on the mound. Despite less than stellar numbers overall, Ventura was still able to win at least 10 games in all three of his full seasons.
There is no denying Ventura had a high ceiling. His talent was never an issue. But unfortunately, now we will never get to know if Ventura would have grown into the ace the Royals were hoping for. Here at INSC we would like to send our best wishes to Ventura’s family, friends and teammates. May he rest in piece.