SURPRISE, Ariz. — One of the major concerns for the Royals during their spring training camp this year has been the quest to find a 5th starter for their rotation.
Enter young Yordana Ventura, who was named to the rotation after a stellar performance against the Texas Rangers on Monday night. The Royals won the game 6-0, with Ventura striking out 6 batters in 6 innings of work, using just 73 pitches.
“We’ve been looking at all of our different scenarios,” Manager Ned Yost said. “I think we’ve got a rotation now. He’ll fit right into that No. 3 spot. It just fits our rotation better to have Shields, Vargy, Ventura — with power — followed by Jeremy Guthrie and Bruce Chen.”
Ventura has pitched 15 1/3 innings this spring, and has struck out a total of 15 batters. The Royals had Tuesday off. They break camp next week and fly to Milwaukee for two exhibition games against the Brewers. They open the season on Monday, March 31 in Detroit against the Tigers, with James Shields as the scheduled starter.
