Cole

Ragans

Ragans walked four and struck out only one. A mere four of the 44 swings against him produced whiffs. Still, it obviously worked out well enough tonight. It’s his lowest strikeout total in 61 starts since being traded to the Royals. He’s coming off the previous low of two, but that was because he was hit in the thumb by a comebacker and left in the first last week against the Guardians. One wonders if the thumb was a bit of a factor tonight, as he threw his slider about half as often as usual. Ragans is slated to face the Yankees on Sunday.

Ragans managed to avoid serious injury after being struck by a comebacker during last Wednesday’s outing against the Guardians, which led to his early exit in the first inning after throwing just 18 pitches. The 28-year-old fantasy ace is not expected to have any workload limitations during a tough road matchup against the division-rival Tigers at Comerica Park.

Ragans was lifted from Wednesday’s outing against the Guardians after he was hit on the hand by a comebacker. It sounds like he was fortunate to avoid any significant injury though and it sounds like he isn’t going to miss any time. Continue to monitor his status, but it sounds like he’ll be good to go for Tuesday.

Ragans didn’t look right after taking a comebacker from José Ramírez off his pitching hand during the first inning of Wednesday’s start at Progressive Field. He was lifted after throwing just 18 pitches and facing five batters. The 28-year-old fantasy ace presumably underwent X-rays since the Royals announced that he left the contest with a contusion. There should be much-needed clarity on his status once he attempts to throw a bullpen session in a couple of days, though he told reporters afterward that he expects to make his next start. Despite that optimism, Ragans remains in clear jeopardy of missing his scheduled outing against the Tigers on Tuesday.

Not initially, though. Even though Ragans, who struck out both batters he faced before taking a José Ramírez liner off both his glove and pitching hands, missed badly on his warmup pitches after the injury, he convinced the Royals to leave him in. He then walked David Fry on four pitches and gave up a long two-run double to Chase DeLauter before exiting. He’ll probably be fine for his next start, but whether he had a bruise or just some numbness, he clearly had to be lifted today.

The run was quite a fluke. Kody Clemens drifted off second base thinking a strike-two pitch was actually an inning-ending strike three and should have been a dead duck. Salvador Perez, though, airmailed the throw to second, sending it to center field, and Clemens, who at least was alert enough to take off for third instead of returning to second, was able to score easily. Ragans generated 16 whiffs and had a 39-percent CSW today. He gave up four hits but only one hard-hit ball. Still, he left down 1-0 in spite of the much more dominant showing than what Taj Bradley put together. He’ll face the Guardians next week.

Ragans retired the first two batters he faced to start this one, but gave up a solo homer to Ozzie Albies with two outs, and followed that by allowing a single to Matt Olson and a walk to Austin Riley. An Eli White groundout ended the early threat, but Ragans would fall victim to the homer again in the third inning when Drake Baldwin took him deep to extend the Braves’ lead to 2-0. Ragans would allow two more runs in the fourth inning courtesy of a two-run homer by Michael Harris, and did not return to start the fifth inning. It was an uncharacteristic outing for Ragans, who allowed just seven homers in 13 games last season. He’ll look to get back on track in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday at home against the Twins.

Ragans struggled in the fourth, giving up all three runs. The left-hander was still able to strike out against two walks while allowing seven hits. Ragans is set to start Opening Day against Atlanta on Friday, and while he offers some volatility, the ability to miss bats makes him one of the better fantasy options in the American League to open 2026.

It had already been announced that Cole Ragans would pitch against the Braves in Atlanta on Opening Day. He’ll be followed by Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, with Noah Cameron rounding out the rotation and pitching on Wednesday against the Twins. It’s possible that Cameron could actually get pushed back to Thursday with Ragans working Wednesday on regular rest, but they may not want to push their ace so early in the season.

Ragans gets the ball for his third consecutive Opening Day assignment. The 28-year-old fantasy ace is a borderline SP1 in fantasy drafts this spring after posting a 4.67 ERA (2.67 xERA), 1.18 WHIP and 98/20 K/BB ratio across 61 2/3 innings over 13 starts during last year’s injury-marred campaign.