KANSAS CITY -- Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura has dropped his appeal and will accept an eight-game suspension starting with Saturday's game with the Tigers.
Ventura will be eligible to return June 28, and Kansas City manager Ned Yost said Saturday that Ventura will start that game against the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium.
The suspension was lowered through negotiations among Ventura's agent (Relativity Sports Agency), Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Ventura had been suspended for his involvement in a June 7 brawl in Baltimore when he threw a pitch that hit the Orioles' Manny Machado, who promptly charged the mound.
Having the suspension dropped from nine games to eight was about the best scenario the Royals could have hoped for, Yost said. They have two off-days next week, allowing Yost to stick with a four-man rotation until Ventura comes back.
"He only misses one start and we don't have to find a spot starter," Yost said. "It keeps everybody going. And this is better anyway. It works out perfectly. With those off-days, you'd have to skip someone [in the rotation] anyway. You just don't want guys going seven days or eight days without throwing."
The rotation now will go Chris Young (Sunday), Ian Kennedy (Tuesday), Danny Duffy (Wednesday), Edinson Volquez (Friday) and back to Young next Saturday.