Royals' Yordano Ventura won't need Tommy John surgery, avoids DL trip

Kansas City Royals rookie flame-thrower Yordano Ventura gave fans a scare after he experienced elbow discomfort in his last start, but after undergoing an MRI, the rookie phenom has avoided serious harm and won’t require Tommy John surgery.

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Royals general manager Dayton Moore appeared on the MLB Network Tuesday afternoon to say that the MRI came back clean and the 22-year-old right-hander is only expected to miss one start and will avoid a trip to the disabled list.

Royals fans can take a great big deep breath as their rookie phenom is only expected to miss one start and has avoided the Tommy John epidemic that has plagued so many pitchers already this season that is not even two months old.

Ventura gave up a career-high five runs in his most recent start and experienced a drop in velocity on Monday which prompted the MRI. he allowed seven hits and the five runs and couldn’t get out of the third inning.

The Royals have seen some of their young pitching prospects, namely Danny Duffy, see their careers altered by undergoing Tommy John at a young age, so this is cause for celebration in Kansas City as their prized pitcher who can reach 100 miles per hour on his fastball received a clean bill of health.

Look for the Royals to be cautious with Ventura in his next few starts to make sure there are no other issues related to his elbow and he can get through the rest of the season unscathed. He likely will be on a pitch count and innings cap to prevent too much wear on his young and talented arm.

Ventura is 2-5 with a 3.45 earned-run average, 1.26 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings this season.

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Royals’ Yordano Ventura won’t need Tommy John surgery, avoids DL trip

By Patrick Schmidt | May 27, 2014