Royals players for Team Venezuela wore armbands in memory of Yordano Ventura

It doesn’t seem like Team Venezuela is going to need much of a warm-up for the World Baseball Classic.

With a starting lineup of eight All-Stars, Team Venezuela beat the Royals 11-0 on Wednesday at Surprise Stadium. That group included a pair of Royals: shortstop Alcides Escobar and catcher Salvador Perez.

The game was the first tuneup for Team Venezuela ahead of the WBC.

One cool thing to note from the game. Escobar and Perez each had a black armband on their uniform. It was in honor of former teammate Yordano Ventura, who died in January in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.

Royals manager Ned Yost was touched by the gesture.

“I thought it was cool though, Venezuela, they had black armbands on Esky and Sal,” Yost said. “Kind of respect for Yordano, which I thought was a classy act.”

I don’t know if this is a one-time deal because Team Venezuela played the Royals, but it seems likely that Perez and Escobar will be wearing them through the tournament.

The Dominican Republic team will most certainly be wearing armbands throughout the World Baseball Classic. Mike Swanson, Royals vice president of Broadcasting and Communications, tweeted a photo of one of the jerseys: