Royals’ Yordano Ventura will wait to see if he can make next start

Yordano Ventura was unsure whether he would make his next start after spraining his right ankle in the Royals’ 7-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon.

“Right now, it’s too early to tell,” said Royals catching coach Pedro Grifol, who served as an interpreter for Ventura. “He’s going to have to wait a couple of days to see how he feels.”

Ventura’s next scheduled start would come Friday against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium.

He rolled his ankle in the third inning Sunday while trying to avoid a tag on a ground ball to second base. Playing under National League rules at Citizens Bank Park, Ventura had collected his second career hit in the inning and was at first base with nobody out.

When he returned to the dugout, he was looked at by the Royals’ training staff and had his ankle taped up. Ventura favored the ankle in the bottom of the third before allowing a solo homer to Cody Asche. Moments later, Royals manager Ned Yost pulled him from the game and summoned right-hander Dillon Gee.

“He feels better right now than he did when they took him out of the ballgame,” Grifol said, translating for Ventura. “It’s still a little swollen, but the swelling is getting a little better. He’s going to continue to work to see if he can get better.”

Ventura allowed four runs in 2  2/3 innings, falling to 6-6 with a 5.26 ERA on the season. He also allowed a three-run blast to Philadelphia catcher Cameron Rupp in the first.

“I thought he didn’t make a good pitch on the three-run homer,” Yost said. “He elevated it. He came back out in the second inning, and that was better. But then he twisted his ankle and had trouble pushing off in the third inning.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2016 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Royals’ Yordano Ventura will wait to see if he can make next start."