Everyone loves a new pitching phenom, so here’s some good news: 22-year-old flame-thrower Yordano Ventura has won a spot in the Royals’ starting rotation, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.
Ventura made his MLB debut with three September starts last season and has been extremely impressive all spring, flashing a triple-digit fastball that helped him rack up 155 strikeouts in 135 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
Ventura will start Game 3 of the regular season after beating out left-hander Danny Duffy, a one-time top prospect now making his way back from Tommy John elbow surgery. And that likely means Duffy is headed back to Triple-A, where he’ll try to impress the Royals enough to eventually replace veteran Bruce Chen in the rotation.
In terms of raw stuff and upside Ventura is one of the top handful of pitching prospects in all of baseball, so even as a Twins fan destined to watch him dominate my favorite team’s lineup for the next decade or so I’m really looking forward to watching him pitch every fifth day.