RADIO
Yordano Ventura averaged the second fastest fastball in the league last year (just a tick behind Garrett Richards), but he still can be guilty of being a thrower rather than a pitcher for streaks. We’ve seen him lose command and rack up walks on his way to a blow up game, and we’ve seen him put together stretches where he’ll creep up on double digit Ks on any given night as he picks apart the corners.
He’s still rather young, so the command woes aren’t all that surprising, but he’s had two seasons in the majors now and posted a 3.20 BB/9 last year. Like Edinson Volquez, he won’t really work into the eighth inning or get you a complete game, but he upped his K/9 almost a full tick to 8.60 last year while also inducing more grounders (47.6% to 52.2%).
His ERA shot up from 2014’s 3.20 to 4.08 last year, yet he actually improved his FIP (3.60 to 3.57, xFIP (3.74 to 3.60), and SIERA (3.87 to 3.69). He gave up a ton of hard contact though (soft contact down from 20.2% to 14.7%), along with a 6.5% increase in pulled balls.
Digest this all, but realize this will be Ventura’s third year and if he can grow with his secondary pitches (especially his curveball) then the profits could be bountiful.
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