On January 22, in the Dominican Republic, Kansas City Royals’ pitcher, Yordano Ventura, lost his life in a car accident. This news was shocking, but sadly not new to the baseball world.  

Since 2014 baseball has seen too many young stars lose their lives, starting with St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Oscar Taveras, who was just 22 when he died in a car accident. Just 2 years later, Miami Marlins’ ace, Jose Fernandez, lost his life in a boating accident.

Ventura was killed on the Juan Adrian highway in the Dominican Republic. He died from the injuries sustained in the car crash. He was the lone passenger in his jeep.

Ventura was a 25 year old kid who showed so much potential in his first few years in the Major Leagues. Debuting in 2013, Ventura was a hard throwing power arm with an electric fastball, and the Royals were very confident to see him develop into one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Yordano Ventura took no time at all to begin his success and in 2014, his first full season in the bigs, he posted a 14-10 record with a 3.20 ERA, at just 23 years old. That year he helped carry the Royals into the playoffs for the first time since 1985. That same year the Royals had a magical playoff run, going all the way to the World Series.

Ventura was good friends with fellow Dominican ball player, Oscar Taveras. On October 26, 2014 while Ventura was playing in the World Series, Taveras lost his life in a car accident. Just 2 days later On the 28th Ventura was asked to take the hill with his team trailing 3-2 in the series.

Yordano Ventura honored his friend writing “R.I.P. OT #18” on his hat for the game. The Royals needed a win and Ventura helped lead them. He dominated the Giants, throwing 7 shutout innings, in rout to a 10-0 win sending the Series to game 7.

Although the Royals went on to lose that game 7, Ventura showed that no spotlight was too big for him and he was ready to take the next step in his MLB career.

In 2015 Yordano Ventura had another good year going 13-8 with 156 strikeouts in just 163.1 innings pitched. The Royals made the playoffs again, giving Ventura another chance to show why he was going to be good for a long time.

In the American League championship series, Ventura made 2 starts against the Blue Jays pitching to a 3.38 ERA while his team won both his starts, including game 6 to clinch the series.

The Royals would go on to win the world series, making Yordano Ventura a World Series champion at just 24 years old.

In 2015 Ventura struggled and posted a 11-12 record with a 4.48 ERA on a .500 Royals team. He went to the Dominican Republic in the offseason to train and improve his game in 2017.

On January 22 Yordano lost his chance at ever pitching in the Majors again. He got into a car crash and lost his life, stunning baseball fans all across the world. A young 25 year old kid with not only his whole career, but his whole life ahead of him, gone forever.

Many baseball players took to twitter to express their feelings about the loss of Yordano Ventura.

“I love you Ace. I don’t know what to say other than I’m going to miss you alot. RIP ACE.” @Mooose_8 [Mike Moustakas]

“What terrible news this morning! RIP Yordano. This kid was so talented and was only scratching the surface. Condolences to his family.” @DAVIDprice24 [David Price]

“Tragedy has no bias, people. Please, please be safe out there. Condolences to the Ventura family. #RIP Yordano, loved watching you throw [heat].” @ChrisArcher22 [Chris Archer]

Yordano Ventura was on track to be an amazing pitcher in the big leagues for a long, long time. Not only his baseball career but his whole life ahead of him. He was loved by many in and out of baseball and will surely be missed.