Jose Bautista says Yordano Ventura ‘could use some maturing’
It’s been an interesting 24 hours for the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals. The two teams nearly brawled during Sunday’s game, and didn’t let up once the contest ended.
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A number of players on both sides had things to say following the game. Edinson Volquez and Ryan Madson called out Josh Donaldson, while Jose Bautista said he lost respect for Royals manager Ned Yost.
The comments didn’t end there, however. Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura had a couple of things to say about Bautista later in the day. He has since deleted his tweets, but our own Jeff Passan had them translated before they were taken down.
Ventura’s tweets about Bautista read:
“We’ll meet again later and if you do that with me, you’ll see what I’m about. I don’t care about anybody. I used to respect you, but you’re a nobody. … You got lucky this time, but MLB doesn’t get canceled after this season. Keep running your mouth. … You need to stop giving signs. You’re gonna get it from me for being fresh and you really are a nobody.”
Yikes! Life is rough when a six-time All-Star is called “a nobody.”
Bautista responded to Ventura, and while he got in some jabs, he didn’t take any major shots at the young pitcher.
The line about “maturing” is really the one criticism Bautista lobbed at Ventura. Otherwise, he mostly said good things. Ventura is a great pitcher, he hopes he can make a name for himself, etc.
His line about Ventura “maturing” isn’t out of line, either. Ventura has been involved in a number of fracases this season. He’s feuded with Brett Lawrie, the Chicago White Sox and Mike Trout at different points. His comments about Bautista certainly don’t help the reputation he’s developed this year.
Bautista’s comments seem to indicate that he’s trying to get over the whole feud, and that’s probably for the best. Things got pretty heated after Sunday’s game, and there’s just no reason for the situation to continue to escalate now.
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The two teams might meet again in the playoffs, and that will give them the opportunity to sort out this beef. For now, though, the less said, the better. This rivalry should be settled with wins and losses on the field, not with clubhouse quotes.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
