KC Royals: Yordano Ventura Up To Old Tricks in Baltimore

Ventura Isn’t The Only One At Fault

After those incidents last season and into this year, we’ve seen a much cooler Ventura with the KC Royals. That all seemed to go out the window Tuesday night with a pair of inside pitches against Machado in the second inning, then the ball right at Machado in the fifth. It was Ventura’s hardest and most accurate pitch of the night.

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To be clear, Manny Machado’s reputation is anything but sterling. In 2014, he objected to a tag applied by then-Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson. He reacted by hitting Oakland catcher Derek Norris in the head on a backswing. After a subsequent brush-back pitch, Machado let his bat fly towards Donaldson at third. He was suspended five games for the incident.

As easy as it may be to dislike Machado, or for KC Royals fans to dislike players like Jose Bautista, it is not okay for pitchers to throw at stars of the game. Anyone can talk on the field. Many players do it.

Only a pitcher has the opportunity to hurl a baseball upwards of 100 miles an hour at a player standing a mere 60 feet, six inches away. An American League pitcher can do so without the worries of getting into the batter’s box himself.

A pitcher should throw at a hitter unless he has done something that needs to be rectified. He should be doing such things just because he’s annoyed at a poor performance or he’s angry at the opposing player.

You can review the incident yourself by playing the video below:

Next: Ventura Was In The Wrong