Cole

Ragans

Ragans was shut down from throwing after he didn’t bounce back from a physical standpoint following a rehab start for Triple-A Omaha back on May 24. The 28-year-old strikeout machine has been working his way back from an elbow impingement that put him on the shelf back on May 8. He remains without a definitive return timeline and is at least a few weeks from making it back to Kansas City.

Quatraro said that Ragans is feeling the same elbow symptoms that caused him to be placed on the injured list earlier in May. The left-hander pitched well in that outing for Omaha while allowing just a run over 4 1/3 innings, but obviously the elbow trouble means more than those results. He’s going to be shut down from throwing for up to three days, and then the Royals will reevaluate the situation.

The 28-year-old southpaw struck out three batters on the night while allowing one base on balls. Ragans threw 68 pitches in the contest (44 strikes) while racking up 10 swings and misses. His fastball touched as high as 97.6 mph. The Royals may want him to make one additional start to get fully stretched out, but his return appears to be near.

Ragans recently upgraded from playing catch to throwing bullpens, and he’s now ready for the next step in his return to the Royals. It’s been an up-and-down campaign for the 28-year-old lefty, and the hope is that he’ll look more like his usual self once he’s back in the majors.

Royals manager Matt Quatratro told reporters Ragans is going to play catch again on Wednesday before they determine his next steps. The 28-year-old upper-echelon fantasy starter hit the shelf with an elbow impingement last Friday. There’s a chance he’s cleared to rejoin Kansas City’s rotation relatively quickly if he’s able to progress to throwing bullpen sessions without any setbacks.

Ragans, who left Wednesday’s game after three innings, was hoping to avoid the IL stint, but he’ll miss at least two starts now. Stephen Kolek will take his rotation spot. Ragans is 1-4 with a 4.84 ERA this season.

Quatraro noted that the club will evaluate him over the next few days before deciding on the next steps. They had been optimistic that Ragans would be able to make his next scheduled start, it’s unclear if that’s still the case. The 28-year-old southpaw experienced soreness in his triceps and elbow during Wednesday’s start against the Guardians.

Quatraro added that Ragans was lifted for precautionary reasons after experiencing triceps and elbow soreness while throwing three scoreless innings on 58 pitches on Wednesday against the Guardians. The 28-year-old southpaw, who dealt with some diminished fastball velocity in this outing, will undergo additional evaluation and imaging to ensure that he’s not dealing with anything serious. It sounds like there’s a chance he avoids the injured list and takes the ball against the White Sox on Tuesday.

Ragans pitched three scoreless innings, but he went from averaging 96.9 mph with his fastball in the first inning to 93.2 mph in the third and didn’t come back out for the fourth in the game against the Guardians. An extended absence would create room for both Noah Cameron and Stephen Kolek in the Royals rotation.

Ragans fanned eight in the game. He allowed just four hard-hit balls, but three of them turned into homers, including a 359-footer from Randy Arozarena that, according to Statcast, would have stayed in play in 22 of 30 ballparks. With tonight’s barrage, Ragans has given up 10 homers in 32 1/3 innings. In his lone full season as a starter in 2024, he allowed a total of 15 in 186 1/3 innings. He’ll almost surely fare better going forward, but his stock is definitely down a bit from the start of the year. He’ll take a 5.29 ERA into his next start versus the Guardians.