José Ventura

José Miguel Ventura

• Bats Left, Throws Left

• Born July 17, 1983

José Ventura has pitched in the Hoofdklasse. A Dominican native, he played for Santa Rosa in the Curacao league in 2008, going 9-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 62 innings. He led the league in wins and strikeouts (11 ahead of Oscar Lira) and was 5th in ERA. He was 4-0 in 2009 and improved his ERA to 1.19, second-best behind Mario Mujica's 1.18. He was third in wins, two behind Orsendo Clemencia, and his 47 strikeouts tied for third.

Moving to the Hoofdklasse in 2010, he signed with Sparta/Feyenoord. He was 4-8 with a save and a 3.28 ERA as the team's #2 starter behind Gregory Gustina; he also hit .270/.299/.338 before leaving the team in July due to visa issues. He tied Kevin Miner for fifth in the league in innings (85), tied Jurjen van Zijl for 6th in strikeouts (75) and ranked third in losses. He returned in 2011 and made the 2011 Hoofdklasse All-Star Game. In that contest, he relieved Orlando Yntema in the 5th with a 3-3 tie. He did not fare well, allowing hits to Roeland Henrique and Dirk van 't Klooster, walking Sidney de Jong then serving up a grand slam to Bryan Engelhardt. He recovered to retire Lennart Koster and Norbert Lokhorst but followed with a walk. Two more errors by his club put men on second and third with two out, when Mike Duursma popped up. Berry van Driel relieved Ventura, who was saddled with the loss for the South.

Source: Honkbalsite