Royals manager Ned Yost announced that James Shields will start Game 1 of the ALCS against the Orioles, but he would only go so far as to say that he’s “pretty set” on Yordano Ventura for Game 2.
Ventura had an ugly relief appearance in the Wild Card Game, but the 23-year-old rookie bounced back with seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels in Game 2 of the ALDS.
During the regular season Ventura threw 183 innings with a 3.20 ERA while allowing just 14 homers in 782 plate appearances, including a grand total of one homer in his final 10 starts.
Jason Vargas, Jeremy Guthrie, and Danny Duffy are the candidates to start later in the series, but Yost avoided giving any clues about his plans beyond Game 2.