Yordano Ventura Hernández (Spanish: ; June 3, 1991 – January 22, 2017) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Ventura made his MLB debut on September 17, 2013. Known as a power pitcher, his fastball topped out at 102 mph in his career. He won the 2015 World Series with the Royals. On January 22, 2017, Ventura was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.
Ventura was born in Samaná, Dominican Republic, in 1991. After quitting school at the age of 14, he worked in construction until joining a Kansas City Royals academy.
Ventura signed with the Kansas City Royals as an international free agent in 2008, receiving a $28,000 signing bonus. He spent the next 18 months training at the Royals' academy. Ventura played for the Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest League in 2011. In 19 games started for the Cougars, Ventura had a 4–6 win-loss record and a 4.27 earned run average (ERA) with 88 strikeouts in 84 ⁄3 innings pitched. Ventura began the 2012 season with the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, and was named to appear in both the Carolina-California League All-Star Game and the All-Star Futures Game. He was promoted to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Class AA Texas League later that season.