The Kansas City Royals had a couple of pitchers on display in the 2012 Futures Game this weekend, bringing hope to the idea that the team might be able to put together a dynamic rotation to match the incredible hitting prospects and position players the team has in place. Yordano Ventura was one such pitcher for the World roster and now he’s moving up to AA, making his eventual appearance with KC that much closer.
Yordano Ventura began the season with the Class-A Advanced Wilmington where he went 3-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 16 starts. At the time of his promotion, he ranked second in the Carolina League with 98 strikeouts and third in the league holding opponents to a .229 batting average.
The right-hander threw a scoreless inning in the Carolina League All-Star game earlier this season, and also tossed a scoreless frame for the World team in this past week’s XM Futures Game. Ventura entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the number 10 overall prospect in the Royals organization. He was originally signed by the Royals as a non-drafted free agent in October of 2008.