In March, many MLB analysts thought second year pitcher Yordano Ventura was going to have an "ace-like season" considering the strides he made last postseason and Kansas City's 2014 Opening Day starter James Shields being in San Diego.
Today, their prediction has officially been proven wrong since the 2015 Kansas City Royals' Opening Day starter was demoted to Triple-A Omaha to make room for the reactivation of starter Jason Vargas from the 15-day DL.
The 24 year-old flamethrower from the Dominican Republic lived up to rookie expectations set on him after a 2013 campaign with Omaha and Northwest Arkansas (Double-A) in which he went 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA and 155 strikeouts (in 134.2 innings pitched) by having a 14-10 record and 3.20 ERA in thirty-one games with Kansas City. He and the team only wish this year's statline was as good.
To start the 2015 campaign, Ventura pitched as advertised and collected two wins in his first two starts (3 ER in 11.2 IP). Unfortunately, everything came falling down afterwards as he allowed at least four earned runs in four of his next five starts, skyrocketing his ERA from 2.31 to 5.36! Although the former top prospect of the Royals dominated the Reds with seven innings of shutout baseball on May 19, his struggles continued with only one quality start in the next five. When would General Manager Dayton Moore decide he had seen enough? The answer to that question was today as Ventura has been optioned to Triple-A after his latest beat down at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates (4 IP, 10 H, & 6 ER) yesterday evening.
When asked prior to tonight's contest how long Ventura will be in the minors, Kansas City Manager Ned Yost said there was no timetable and it "Could be a week, could be a month."
The two-time All-Star Futures Game selection will make his third start (two rehab starts earlier in season) of the season for the Storm Chasers of the Pacific Coast League on Saturday versus the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers).