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KC Royals Three Little Pedros Could Make Team Dominican Heroes

By John Viril |

The Kansas City Royals are the undisputed Kings of Kansas City. They’re breaking attendance records set during the team’s glory years more than 30 years ago. The KC Royals also boast the highest local TV ratings in major league baseball by a wide margin. But, a Kansas City Royals pitching staff headlined by four stars from the Dominican Republic also figure to also make them the toast of “the Island” come October.

Ace Johnny Cueto, 2015 free-agent signee Edinson Volquez, and young fireballer Yordano Ventura all hail from the Dominican Republic. In searching Baseball-Almanac.com’s player database, I have not identified ANY prior starting rotation headlined by three pitchers from the Domincan Republic.

Add in Dominican reliever Kelvin Herrera, the first “H” from last the KC Royals’ famed “HDH” bullpen trio, and you have a pitching staff whose critical members tilt heavily toward the small Caribbean island with a current population of 10.8 million.

In fact, the “Three Little Pedros” are so important to the Kansas City Royals post-season success, they figure to balance the bullpen’s HDH trio. The three also figure to make KC Royals games “Must See TV” in the Dominican Republic come October. The Island is likely to go Royals Crazy if the team repeats last season’s run to the World Series.

When KC Royals pitchers Edinson Volquez (32), Johnny Cueto (29), and Yordano Ventura (24) were growing up, it was Pedro Martinez‘s starts for the Boston Red Sox that were televised in the Dominican Republic. In a 2008 interview with ESPN. Volquez recalled to reporter Amy K. Nelson about Pedro Martinez starts:

“The day he pitched?” Volquez said. “You don’t go anywhere.”

Even young Dominicans who didn’t watch much TV followed Pedro Martinez. Johnny Cueto told Cincinnati.com reporter John Erardt in 2014:

“I was short and skinny — the scouts from other organizations had rejected me,” he said. “But Pedro (Martinez) wasn’t big. And Pedro was my idol. He was the only player I liked, the only player I followed. I never watched much TV. But I knew about Pedro. Everything for me growing up was Pedro, Pedro, Pedro. He was my inspiration.”

Pedro Martinez is STILL an inspiration for Kansas City Royals phenom Yordano Ventura. He told NESN.com reporter Ricky Doyle last October:

“For me, Pedro Martinez has always been that player for me from the Dominican that I learn from and grow from,” Ventura told reporters Tuesday through interpreter Jeremy Guthrie. “I speak with him more or less every other day at this point, and Pedro always encourages me to be myself again and to treat every game just like I always have.”

If ONE Pedro had such an effect on the most recent generation of Dominican players, just imagine what the Three Little Pedro’s—plus Kelvin Herrera—could do to the current crop of kids on “The Island” if the KC Royals win the 2015 World Series.

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Kansas City Royals jerseys could become the unofficial childhood uniform in the Dominican Republic for years to come., Heck, the four might turn the “Land of Shortstops” to into the “Pipeline for Pitchers”. They could give hope every under-sized kid who dreams of doing something naysayers insist is reserved for the Goliaths of the game (most scouts want pitchers to be tall).

KC Royals fans are watching a group of players that stand to win a place in baseball lore, if they can take care of business in October.

It’s not every day that you can a see trio with the chance to become national icons if they fulfill their destiny. Enjoy it Kansas City, it’s just another perk of success.

Next: Royals Trying to Keep the Party Going Past 2015

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