Hey, Yordano: Settle down little guy
Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura in the middle of a benches clearing incident? Yes…again. The young, hard throwing Dominican talent just can’t seem to get his act together, regarding both his command and keeping his little undies out of a bunch.
The incident last night with Manny Machado was far from Chapter 1 in Ventura’s young career. If you recall early last season, Ventura was in the middle of bench clearing incidents in three straight starts. Yes, THREE straight starts (vs. Angels on April 12, vs. Athletics April 18, and vs. White Sox April 23, 2015). He took offense to a line drive hit by Mike Trout and chirped him, threw at Brett Lawrie, and barked at Adam Eaton, respectively.
The incident with Adam Eaton and the White Sox rubbed me the wrong way the most. Eaton hit a hard, comeback chopper right to Ventura’s chest/neck/head region. Ventura was able to avoid being hit, corralled the ball, but Ventura wouldn’t simply just throw the ball to first base for the out. Before making the throw to first to complete the out, cameras caught Ventura clearly cursing at Eaton without being provoked. See the play here: http://imgur.com/gallery/EMxYLuc
There have been plenty of pitchers throughout history that have irritated their opponents with fiery, feather-ruffling behavior on the mound. Pedro Martinez, for example, played with a similar fire, but channeled it into fine pitching performances that turned into a HOF career (Adam Jones brought up the Martinez comparison in his pres conference last night). NEWSFLASH, Yordano: your 2016 ERA is 5.32, your K/9 is 6.00, your K/BB is 1.26, and your WHIP is 1.53…all of which are the worst of your career to date, even if the season is still young. You are not Pedro Martinez. Not even close. My advice for you: quit trying to act like you are this tough buzzsaw, mowing through opposing hitters that deserves to be feared. Because of your current inefficiencies on the mound, your demeanor does not come across as intimidating. Rather, you make it very clear you’re dealing with a raging Napoleonic complex that cannot be tamed. Your antics would be entertaining if you were actually pitching well, but you’re not. Until you are, just shut your mouth and pitch.
