After a three-start trial in September 2013, Ventura became a fixture in the Royals' rotation this year, going 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura, who starts Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday for the Kansas City Royals against the San Francisco Giants, did not always hit 100 mph with his fastball.
“When I was signed at 17, I looked around and I weighed 120 pounds more or less,” the 23-year-old Dominican Republic native said Tuesday. “I saw other kids that were bigger than me, and some were throwing harder, some weren’t. But I always believed if I could get bigger that I could continue to build arm strength.
“So it was just a short year later that I went from maybe 87 to what I remember being 93 miles an hour. And then to begin the (Dominican) Summer League with the Royals team I was with, began to build. A year later, it felt like it was 95.
“It was just kind of a year-by-year thing where I continued to increase. In 2010, I was in Arizona in the Fall League and I hit 100 for the first time in a start. So I think that’s obviously a moment where I felt I had a special ability to be able to pitch and throw with that kind of velocity.”
Kansas City right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, who will start Game 3 on Friday, remembers when Ventura made his big league debut last September.
“Yordano came in last year guns a blazing,” Guthrie said. “His talent was evident from the very first start he made with us. I think the most impressive thing to those who were watching, teammate or opposing teams, was the level of command he had with above-average pitches.
“When you watch him, you realize it’s not just 100 miles an hour that gets people out, but he has a very, very sharp curveball and one that anybody would hope to have in the repertoire. He has an excellent changeup. That’s a weapon for him, that when he unleashes it will only make him better.”
After a three-start trial in September 2013, Ventura became a fixture in the Royals’ rotation this year, going 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA.
In the postseason, Ventura threw seven innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Division Series, and he gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Championship Series. He also was touched for two runs in one-third of an inning in a relief appearance during Kansas City’s AL wild-card win over the Oakland A’s.
