Report: Royals mulling demotion for Yordano Ventura

Yordano Ventura may temporarily have pitched his way out of Kansas City.

Amid continued ineffectiveness from the 24-year-old right-hander, who allowed a season-high six earned runs over four innings Monday night, the Royals are reportedly considering optioning Ventura to Triple-A, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Ventura has logged more innings than all but one of his teammates since the beginning of 2014, but seems to be the likeliest candidate to lose his starting job when Jason Vargas returns from the disabled list. Not only does Ventura have options left on his contract, but he also hasn't pitched past the fifth inning since May 31, battling intermittent injury problems over the last two months.

Despite an ugly 5.19 ERA this season, Ventura's peripheral statistics haven't changed that much from 2014, when he finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting last summer.