Kansas City Royals rumors: Growing concern about Yordano Ventura’s ailing back
By Hayden Kane
The Kansas City Royals are riding the high of their recent winning ways and the fact that they currently sit in first place in the American League Central ahead of the favored Detroit Tigers.
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Not much would be able to harsh their buzz at this point. One bit of news that could drag people down, however, is the fact that exciting young starting pitcher Yordano Ventura was scratched from his next scheduled start this week and is dealing with a lingering back problem.
On this issue, Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star writes the following:
"Yordano Ventura will miss his scheduled start against the Twins on Wednesday. Internally, the Royals maintain honest hope that this is the extent of it, just one start, a little rest, and back at it early next week. But it’s a cautious optimism, a sort of anxious hope, the kind of thing that one club official admits has him “holding my breath.”"
Just 23 years old, Ventura has been quite impressive in his rookie season. In 24 starts he is 10-9 with a 3.40 ERA and a 7.7 K/9 mark. With the ability to run the ball up there close to 100 MPH, he has been an exciting pitcher to watch this season, the kind of guy who makes you switch over to a Royals game on MLB TV on some random weeknight during the summer.
The Royals will hope against hope that this back issue, which reveals nothing serious on tests, is not the kind of thing that will keep Ventura from pitching in the spotlight of a playoff race between now and the end of the season.