Yordano Ventura

Depending on who you talk to, Ventura's breakout 2014 campaign was one of the surprises of last year's Kansas City squad. Scouts and dynasty owners had been expecting this for quite some time, however, and the young flamethrower was able to impress with an average fastball velocity of 97 mph (that often found triple digits on the radar gun) and a K/9 of 7.8 that led all Royals' starters. The right-hander's hard-throwing style led to minor issues with elbow fatigue, back stiffness and shoulder tightness scattered throughout the season, but that didn't stop the then 23-year-old from logging a career-high 183 regular-season innings, and tacking on an extra 25.1 frames in postseason play. Ventura proved to be a more-than-serviceable No. 2 option in 2014, and with ace James Shields likely to be lost in free agency, he may be expected to take over as the new anchor of the staff. He'll continue to work on fine-tuning his four-pitch arsenal, and if he proves he can handle back-to-back 200 inning seasons, Ventura may very well be one of the fantasy stars of 2015.

There's plenty of buzz within the Kansas City organization with regard to Ventura, who has an explosive fastball and complements it well with a strong curve and a decent changeup. He has ascended through the farm system very quickly, striking out a little more than a batter per inning at nearly every stop; and after blowing through both Double and Triple-A last season, he received a call-up and made three starts at the big league level. Ventura tossed 15.1 innings at the big league level and posted just an 11:6 K:BB ratio, but his stuff looked electric and he never seemed overwhelmed by the hitters he was facing. While Ventura will be competing for a big league roster spot, either at the back end of the rotation or in a high-leverage relief role, the likelihood that he opens the year at Triple-A seems a bit more plausible. He may not need to there for long, but the low-pressure work could be a nice confidence builder.

Ventura had a "big" 2012 season in the Royals' farm system. This is coming from a player who physically is anything but "big" at 5-foot-11 and 140 pounds, but is capable of throwing his nasty fastball 102 mph. In 16 starts at High-A Wilmington, Ventura went 3-5 with a 3.30 ERA and 98 strikeouts to go along with a 1.23 WHIP. He shows decent control overall as he only walked 28 over this period and a solid 75.1 percent strand rate. Ventura was promoted in July to Double-A before a short stint on the disabled list. He should return to Double-A in 2013, but if he continues to improve as he did last season, he could land on the fast track for a bullpen or rotation spot with the Royals in the near future.

Ventura is a strong-armed righty starting pitcher that is likely destined to end up in the back end of a bullpen some day. At Low-A Kane County he had 88 strikeouts and 24 walks with a 4.27 ERA over 84.1 innings. As mentioned above, he brings the heat, able to touch triple digits with his fastball which is even more impressive when you account for the fact that he's just 5-foot-11. He remains inconsistent with his secondary offerings and is still learning how to pitch rather than just throw. Ventura has work to do at High-A Wilmington before anyone goes adding him to their prospect list for 2013.