With baseball season now underway, I’ve decided to whip up another MLB special. This won’t be your usual baseball special either. I won’t be talking about any superstars, won’t be talking about individual teams, and also won’t be giving my two cents on why certain players are starting off slow in 2014. Instead, I will be giving baseball fans insight on “low key studs.” These studs are certain players that have been catching my attention for the past 2-3 years. They also aren’t on the radar of your typical baseball fans. I will be talking about one low key stud for each division. So, I advise that everyone keep their eyes and ears open on these players because they will be household names some time in the future. This is part V of the special. If you missed part I please CLICK HERE, part II CLICK HERE, part III CLICK HERE, part IV CLICK HERE.
Stud Watch: AL West
Yorando Ventura, Starting Pitcher, Kansas City Royals
The Royals signed Ventura as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2008. He wasn’t one of those young studs worthy of blue-chip money, though. In fact Kansas City paid less than $30,000 for him.
A big reason for that: Ventura wasn’t exactly himself just yet.
After the signing, it took a while for him to be more than just a blip on the prospect radar. He spent 2009 and a bit of the next season pitching in the Dominican Summer League before finally coming over to pitch in the rookie-level Arizona League later in 2010. After gaining his confidence and started dominating his competition Ventura’s teammates gave him the nickname ‘Lil Predro’ after Pedro Martinez. He pitches very similar to him and you can see that whenever he toes the rubber.
Strengths
- Fire fastball
- Dirty curveball
- Very young
- Pitches to contact when needed
Yorando Venture is only 22 years old and has one of the brightest futures in the MLB. He posses one of the fastest 4-seamers in the league with one of scariest benders as his strikeout pitch. He is able to set batters up with his fastball that consistently hits 98 mph and tops out at 100. Opposing batters aren’t able to catch up to the heater and before they know it they are behind in the count and Venture is able to put them away with his dirty curveball. One of the greatest strengths Venture has is his ability to pitch for contact when he doesn’t have his swing-and-miss pitches. He was able to mature very quickly being able to do this as a pitcher. This allows him to not rely on trying to strikeout each batter, which he is capable of doing, but to focus on allowing his defense to carry him to the win and watch his pitch count.
Weakness
- Pitch control
- Below average change-up
- Innings count
Yorando Venture doesn’t have many weaknesses for a pitcher that wasn’t highly sought after. His only blemishes is that he can be effectively wild at times, his change-up doesn’t fool anyone, and he has an innings cap during the 2014 season. At time Yoradno can lose his rhythm during a game but still be effective and collect outs. He doesn’t walk many batters for a pitcher that can be wild from time and time but when a runner does reach base he doesn’t stress and is able to get out of the jam. Ventura has two very solid pitches in his fastball and curveball but his change-up needs a little work. He doesn’t have the feel for his change quit yet but once he does he will have two very dangerous strikeout pitches in his bender and off-speed. One things that sucks about young studs like Yorando Ventura is that baseball fans won’t be able to see him pitch for the entire 2014 season. The Royals will have him on an 180 inning count, which means he will be done in early September. The Royals are smart on this move since a handful of great pitchers have gone under the knife for Tommy John Surgery in 2014.
Overall
Yorando Ventura is one bright star and w should be able to shine for many years to come. He has the arsenal and confidence of an ace and should be able to carry a pitching staff in just due time. His fastball is very difficult to catch up to and his curveball is so dirty that batters can go up to the plate with a tennis racket and still swing and miss. Being only 22 the Royals do have him on a innings limit but that should only last during the 2014 season. So if Ventura is on the mound for the Royals 0n any given night I suggest that all baseball fans should stop what they are doing and watch this young stud just dominate his opponents.