Royals send struggling Opening Day starter Ventura to Triple-A
Yordano Ventura is going back to the minors to try to regain his form from his strong rookie season.
The Royals optioned Ventura to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday after a string of ineffective outings for the opening-day pitcher.
"A lot of times it's good for players to take a step back, so they can take three or four steps forward," manager Ned Yost said.
The 24-year-old Ventura, who can run his fastball into triple digits, is 4-7 with a 5.19 ERA in 14 starts this year. He spent nearly a month on the disabled list with inflammation of his ulnar nerve.
Yost acknowledged Ventura is probably feeling some frustration.
"He knows what he's capable of doing," Yost said. "He feels like with his performance a little bit that he's letting everybody down, which is not the case. Everybody believes in him 100 percent."
Left-hander Jason Vargas, who is 5-2 with a 4.10 ERA in eight starts this season, came off the disabled list and got the start Tuesday night against Pittsburgh. However, Vargas exited in the second inning with elbow pain and will have an MRI on Wednesday. He hadn't pitched since June 8 because of a left flexor strain.
Ventura gave up a season-high six runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings in Monday night's 10-7 loss to the Pirates. He is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his past four starts.
After going 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA last year and throwing seven scoreless innings to beat San Francisco in Game 6 of the World Series, the Royals signed Ventura to a $23 million, five-year contract at the end of spring training.
"Everybody still knows if we make it back to the World Series, he's going to be a big reason why," Yost said. "So just going down and having success, for a week or two or three or four or whatever it may be, is going to help him in the long run."
Despite his struggles, Ventura's strikeout rate (7.7 strikeouts per nine innings) and walk rate (2.9 walks per nine innings) remain very similar to his 2014 totals (7.8 and 3.4, respectively). However, his hits per nine innings have jumped from 8.3 to 9.2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
