Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura sent down to Triple-A

Yordano Ventura was brilliant in 2014, which has made his disappointing 2015 season all the more mystifying.

The Kansas City Royals announced Tuesday that they have returned left-handed pitcher Jason Vargas from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day disabled list.

Ventura was sent to Triple-A Omaha after struggling to a 4-7 record with a 5.19 ERA in 14 starts for the Royals this year.

A stint in Triple-A could be just what the doctor ordered for Ventura, who is unquestionably talented but may need to simply iron out some of the kinks in his motion or rethink his mentality against lesser competition. “He feels like with his performance a little bit that he’s letting everybody down, which is not the case”. He sustained a flexor strain in his elbow last month, the second time this season Vargas went on the DL with that injury.

The Royals finally gave up on 24-year-old pitcher Yordano Ventura after giving up six runs on 10 hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

The 32-year-old Vargas entered Tuesday 5-2 in 2015 with a 4.10 ERA and 1.344 WHIP in 41 2/3 innings. His 3.68 xFIP suggests that he’s been one of the least lucky starters in the majors, but the Royals have enough pitching depth that a demotion might still make sense.

After going 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA as a rookie and throwing seven scoreless innings to beat San Francisco in Game 6 of the World Series, the Royals signed Ventura to a $23 million, five-year contract at the end of spring training.