Reports: Royals Pitcher Yordano Ventura Killed in Car Crash
By Tully Corcoran
Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was killed Sunday morning in a car crash in the Dominican Republic, the Kansas City Royals have confirmed.
Ventura, whose fastball topped out at 102 miles per hour, made his MLB debut in 2013 and won a spot in the starting rotation the next season. He perhaps shined most brightly in 2014, when at age 23 he threw seven scoreless innings in Game 6 of the World Series.
He pitched that night in dedication to his friend Oscar Taveras, who had recently died in a car accident in the Dominican.
Ventura is the second baseball player to lose his life in a car crash this weekend in the Dominican Republic, where driving is especially dangerous. Andy Marte also died this weekend in a separate incident, at age 33.