He grew up supporting the Royals. His best MLB starts have been ... against them
Joey Wentz has nothing but fond memories at Kauffman Stadium.
It’s the site of his first career win, a 6 2/3 inning shutout performance with the Detroit Tigers in 2022. Most recently, he added a similar stat line at The K — 6 2/3 scoreless against the Royals again.
This time, it came in a 1-0 extra-innings defeat with the Braves.
But Wentz’s nostalgia surrounding Kauffman extends beyond the diamond and foul nets — it’s where he grew up.
Wentz, born in Lawrence and a graduate of Shawnee Mission East, grew up watching KC with a grandfather who had Royals tickets since the 1980s. He told The Star in 2022 that part of his experience included the 2014 and 2015 playoff runs.
“I was here when Salvy (Perez) hit the ball by a diving A’s third baseman in the Wild Card (Game),” he told The Star in the 2022 story. “So I’ve been to a lot of games. It was awesome.”
Wentz told media members following Wednesday’s game that he considers the two best starts of his career to be at The K.
“I’ve pitched here before, but any time you can pitch close to home, pitch well, feels good,” Wentz said.
A 6 2/3 scoreless performance may speak for itself, but the Royals themselves were puzzled by Wentz. He recorded seven strikeouts and just one hit allowed. He drew 13 whiffs, his most as a starter since September 2023.
“We didn’t solve him at all,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “His cutter percentage and usage was up today and he executed it. He didn’t make any mistakes.”
Of his 95 pitches, he relied on the cutter for nearly half at 43 (45%). All season, he had been using it around 35.1% of the time. But the change was certainly welcome, with Wentz’s cutter producing six of those swings and misses on the day.
“I think I changed the grip maybe a month ago or so,” he said. “I thought the results have been pretty good. It still comes down to getting it to where it needs to be, but I thought today was pretty good for me.
Of his seven strikeouts, one just so happened to be of Salvador Perez, both the hero for the Royals’ walk-off win and also one of the guys Wentz grew up watching.
“It’s cool. Salvy is obviously a fantastic player,” Wentz said. “He’s one of the best. He’ll go down as one of the best Royals of all time, certainly from that generation that went to the World Series and won the World Series.”
While at SM East, Wentz took home Sunflower League Player of the Year accolades in 2015 and 2016, his junior and senior years. He was The Star’s All-Metro Player of the Year in his senior season.
Wentz struck out 104 batters and allowed just seven hits as a senior en route to a spotless ERA and 9-0 record. With velocity regularly hitting the 90-mph range, it was no surprise to see his name called at No. 40 overall by the Braves in the 2016 amateur draft.
Along with Wentz’s estimate of “near 20” family members in attendance Wednesday, Wentz said his high school coach Jerrod Ryherd was also at The K.
“It’s cool to pitch in Kansas City and pitch well,” Wentz said.
He was traded to Detroit’s organization in 2019, but after stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins, Wentz was claimed off waivers for his return to the Braves earlier this month.
Despite a 5.02 ERA over the season, he’s found some footing with Atlanta, sporting a 1.50 ERA in four appearances (three starts, 18 innings) since joining.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Wentz said of the upcoming weeks for him. “Certainly looking forward to it. I think I’ve thrown the ball pretty well since being here, and hopefully you can keep the momentum.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM.
