After silencing the Padres, Yordano Ventura says he’d like to start opening day

The presumptive opening-day starter would be pleased if it became official.

After tossing three scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Surprise Stadium, Yordano Ventura officially threw his hat into the ring.

When asked about opening day April 6 against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, Ventura said he would like to be on the mound.

Why?

“It would mean I earned the trust of the organization,” Ventura said.

It’s hard to imagine that trust wasn’t built last year. In particular in game six of the World Series, when Ventura helped the Royals stave off elimination by throwing seven innings of three-hit ball in a 10-0 win over the Giants.

Manager Ned Yost repeated his claim that Ventura is in the mix to start on opening day — along with the rest of the rotation.

While Yost hid his plans for the order of his starting pitchers, he was effusive in his praise of Ventura’s effort Wednesday.

“I thought he was great,” Yost said. “He was throwing consistently down in the strike zone in the second and third (innings). He was excellent.”

Ventura said he threw more curveballs Wednesday than in his first start of the spring, and he was sharp after a walk and a single in the first inning.

After allowing four runs in one inning of his first spring outing, Ventura gave up four singles and walked a batter in three innings against the Padres. But he struck out three, including Jedd Gyorko twice. The last came on a particularly nasty curveball that ended the third inning.

“I have been recently trying to make adjustments on and off the field,” Ventura said through a translator.

Those off-field moves include trying to do the things the coaching staff wants from the players without needing a reminder.

That’s certainly important, but Yost is pleased with what he’s seen from Ventura on the field, too. Particularly on Wednesday.

“It’s about getting your work in and making adjustments, getting your timing,” Yost said. “I thought he did a good job of it.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 7:58 PM with the headline "After silencing the Padres, Yordano Ventura says he’d like to start opening day."