Royals’ top three starting pitchers share a nation but not everything

In the photograph, snapped amid the pennant celebration as Friday night turned to Saturday morning, Kelvin Herrera points toward his three countrymen who formulate 75 percent of Kansas City’s starting rotation.

Johnny Cueto stands with his dreadlocks unprotected from the celebratory spray. Yordano Ventura grins while clutching a Budweiser in each fist. His eyes covered by goggles, Edinson Volquez flashes a No. 1 sign to the camera.

“Dominicans to the top,” Cueto wrote in Spanish after posting the picture on his Instagram account.

Together, these three men will lead the Royals during the first three games of the World Series against the Mets. Volquez will start Game 1 Tuesday, followed by Cueto on Wednesday and Ventura on Friday in New York.

During games, the television cameras often capture the trio watching together inside the Royals’ dugout. After Cueto arrived in July, a storyline emerged that depicted them as an inseparable unit, forged by the bonds of country and companionship. Most of this is bunk.

Volquez and Cueto dine together on the road, but Ventura usually stays in his room.

Their pitching styles are not similar: Ventura heaves upper-register fastballs, Volquez aims for low sinkers and Cueto offers an exotic blend of deliveries and timing mechanisms. Pitching coach Dave Eiland has instructed each man not to “try to be each others’ pitching coaches,” he said.

The internal dynamic among the trio is more complicated but still helpful for the pursuits of the Royals. Volquez acts as the connective tissue between Ventura, the rotation’s enfant terrible, and Cueto, the mercenary man of mystery.

Volquez became friends with Cueto as teammates in Cincinnati. When Cueto joined the Royals in July, he tried to find a rental property near Volquez’s place in the suburbs. Cueto traded texts with Volquez during the summer as he followed trade deadline rumors.

In Ventura, Volquez sees a version of his younger, wilder self. When Ventura simmered with fury earlier in the year, Volquez counseled him to control his rage.

Ventura used the acquisition of Cueto as motivational fuel for his second-half revival. He seeks advice from both veterans on how to attack certain hitters.

“They support one another,” Eiland said. “They encourage one another. And they try to one-up one another when they go out there to pitch. Any good starting staff, you have that competition within the staff. And that’s what you have with those three guys.”

The angry young man

As AC/DC thundered on the speakers and champagne spilled across the clubhouse floor, Cueto grabbed his and recorded a video. He stood next to Ventura. In the clip, posted later on Instagram, Cueto is smiling. Ventura is not.

“Talk now,” Ventura says in Spanish. “Talk now. Now. Who are the ones celebrating?”

Ventura utters an expletive. Beaming the entire time, Cueto looks like a visitor from a different temperamental planet. “Number one!” he says, before ceding the stage back to Ventura.

“Number one,” Ventura says. “No matter what. And now? And now? Tell me now. Who are they?”

Ventura is still ranting when the video ends.

It is unclear who the object of his displeasure is, but the candidates are varied and various. In August, after Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista criticized Ned Yost, Ventura lit into Bautista on Twitter. Ventura soon deleted the posts, but the incident only added to his resume.

By now, the timeline has become familiar. In the first month of the season, Ventura argued with Angels superstar Mike Trout in April, earned a fine for plunking Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie and received a suspension for instigating a benches-clearing brawl with the White Sox.

As the season progressed, Ventura became less prone to in-game outbursts. Much of the stress, team officials believe, stemmed from the internal pressure Ventura placed on himself after signing a $23 million contract extension this spring and being named the Opening Day starter.

In this regard, the presence of both Volquez and Cueto helped. Volquez debuted with Texas a decade ago as one of the finest prospects in the game. By his own admission, he lacked discipline, a problem he believes does not affect Ventura. But he could relate to the anxiety Ventura felt to produce.

Cueto also reminded Ventura of his diminished status within the organization. Four days before the Royals traded for Cueto, the team optioned him to Class AAA Omaha. The demotion did not last, as Jason Vargas tore his ulnar collateral ligament that night and Ventura stayed with the team. But the dual events — the demotion and the trade — sent Ventura a message.

The trade became official July 26. Ventura waxed the Astros that afternoon at Kauffman Stadium across seven innings of one-run ball. After Cueto joined Kansas City, Ventura went 9-1 with a 3.10 ERA.

“He stated to me, ‘We’ve got Johnny, that’s really good, but I’m going to show you who the real ace of this staff is,’ ” Eiland said. “And he turned it on.”

[ Sportsbeat KC podcast: Mets vs. Royals World Series preview ]

The enigma

Cueto insists the road does not bother him, that the behavior of opposing fans does not rattle him. Yet the evidence suggests otherwise. There was the dropped baseball in the 2013 National League Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh. Last week in Toronto, Cueto could only manage a sheepish grin as he exited after giving up eight runs in two innings.

The meltdown was historic. It caught the attention of Kansas City officials. So as the team charted its rotation for these playoffs, the Royals made sure to avoid using Cueto at Citi Field. He will start Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 6. The Royals ache for Cueto to repeat his outing from Game 5 of the American League Division Series, when he suppressed the Astros for eight innings.

When he joined the Royals, Cueto could not find a rental property near Volquez. Instead he moved downtown. Little in his transition to Kansas City has gone smoothly. He received a hero’s welcome during his first few outings at Kauffman Stadium, but the reception chilled during a troubled five-start stretch in August and September.

Cueto posted a 9.57 ERA during those games. The Royals saw a pitcher over-throwing in an attempt to generate extra velocity on his fastball and additional movement on his offspeed pitches. Cueto countered with the contention that he felt uncomfortable with catcher Salvador Perez’s positioning.

Perez adjusted to Cueto’s wishes. Cueto proved less flexible when Royals officials asked him to shift his schedule and work one outing in September on three days’ rest so he could pitch Game 1 of the ALDS. Cueto declined and opted for Game 2. His scattershot performance in October only adds to his air of unpredictability.

It may sound difficult to remember now, but when the Royals acquired Cueto, they felt they had solved their issues in the rotation with a genuine ace. Cueto pitched a 2.48 ERA from 2011 to 2014 in Cincinnati and had a 2.62 ERA in 19 starts with the Reds this season.

The Royals have only seen glimpses of that pitcher. There are still industrywide concerns about his right elbow, despite insistence from the Royals and Cueto that he is healthy. That question will soon be left to his suitors in free agency. The Royals are not expected to make a serious pursuit to retain him.

In the interim, Cueto will receive at least one more chance to arrange his legacy as a Royal. And he will do so at Kauffman Stadium. Asked how he would describe his time here, Cueto maintained an upbeat stance.

“He felt great,” said a translator aiding Cueto on Monday. “He felt right at home.”

The glue

Eiland walked into the Kauffman Stadium dugout before Game 1 of the ALCS and found Volquez with his ears covered by headphones. It was about 15 minutes before Volquez was set to warm up. He was laughing and singing to himself, as if oblivious to the challenge ahead of him.

But as soon as Volquez arrived in the bullpen that evening, he locked into focus. He turned in six scoreless innings as the Royals swept the first two games at home.

“You see the fire outwardly in Ventura,” Eiland said. “But it’s burning just as hot with Eddie. He just doesn’t wear it on his sleeve as much.”

Of the three pitchers, Volquez has dealt with the most professional hardship. A top-flight prospect in Texas, he was traded to Cincinnati for future American League MVP Josh Hamilton. Volquez made the All-Star team in his first full season in 2008 but soon underwent Tommy John surgery.

The Reds dumped him onto the Padres in 2012. San Diego cut Volquez midway through the 2013 season. Volquez revived his career in Pittsburgh last season and inked a two-year, $20 million contract with the Royals this past winter.

The Royals’ rotation suffered a series of disruptions this season. Ventura raged at slights perceived and imagined. Vargas blew out his elbow. Danny Duffy could not repeat his delivery or his bits of brilliance from 2014. Volquez served as the group’s anchor, with a 3.55 ERA across 200  1/3 innings.

“He’s been steady,” Eiland said. “He’s been solid. For the most part, you know what you’re going to get when he goes out there. And from a pitching coach’s and a manager’s standpoint, that’s all you can really ask for.”

He plays a similar, unifying role with Cueto and Ventura. Now he will lead the rotation into the World Series.

“For me, it’s a great honor to pitch in this game, especially pitching at home,” Volquez said. “It’s a great feeling.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Royals’ top three starting pitchers share a nation but not everything."