KANSAS CITY -- After just 58 pitches thrown across three innings, starter Cole Ragans exited the Royals' 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday with left triceps and elbow soreness. He’ll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday to determine the severity and next steps.
Ragans said he felt tightness creep into the back of his left triceps and just above the elbow throughout the third inning. He got out of a jam that had runners on first and third with two outs with a popup to get him through his third scoreless frame, but when he got back in the dugout, he alerted the Royals' coaching and training staff of the tightness.
“It got to a point where I didn’t feel like I needed to push it anymore,” Ragans said. “Talked to [pitching coach Brian] Sweeney and all of them, and figured that was the best decision.”
During the bottom of the third inning, head athletic trainer Kyle Turner was speaking with manager Matt Quatraro in the dugout as reliever Luinder Avila began to warm up in the bullpen. Avila came in for the fourth inning, issued a leadoff walk and a single and allowed the go-ahead, two-run single to Chase DeLauter after the Guardians executed a double steal to put runners on second and third base.
“Those are the finer points that, when you’re in a one-run game, you've got to be able to execute there,” Quatraro said.
Ragans will likely have imaging done to determine what exactly he’s dealing with, but Quatraro expressed some optimism about the situation.
“We don’t think it’s serious,” Quatraro said. “We’re hopeful for the next start. We’ll just see where he is after we evaluate it tomorrow.”
Ragans, who underwent two Tommy John surgeries when he was a Minor Leaguer with the Rangers, said he’s never felt anything like what he felt Wednesday.
"I’ve been through the elbow stuff,” Ragans said. “I know it’s not what I’ve been through before. We’ll do some other stuff and kind of go from there.”
Ragans leaving in the third inning was not what the Royals had envisioned for Wednesday’s game, which saw them snap a five-game winning streak with their first loss since last Thursday against the Athletics.
The mood shifts any time a player leaves with an injury, let alone the Royals’ ace.
"It sucked,” said third baseman Maikel Garcia, who had an injury scare of his own in the third inning when he slid into second base and spiked his own shin. Luckily, Garcia shook off that pain and stayed in the game.
Garcia continued: “He’s our best pitcher in the rotation. Hopefully [nothing] is bad and he can get back. … We need him.”
Ragans had worked through a shaky 28-pitch first inning with two walks but looked like he was settling down by the third. But his velocity was dropping during that frame, with his fastball ranging from 92-93 mph. That’s not necessarily abnormal for Ragans throughout an outing, but his slider and cutter velocity also dropped from what he was throwing in the first two innings. His final pitch of the day was 94.3 mph to Rhys Hoskins for a popout.
Ragans has had an inconsistent season so far, leading to his 4.84 ERA across eight starts through Wednesday. About a month ago, Ragans was hit by a comebacker on his left thumb against these Guardians in Cleveland, leading to an early exit after recording just two outs. He made his next start, though, and got back into the regular turn of the rotation from there.
This is not the first injury Ragans has had to deal with; the aforementioned Tommy John surgeries caused him to miss the 2018 and ‘19 seasons, and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season wiped that year away for him, too. Ragans was also limited to 13 starts last season with the Royals, missing time with a left groin strain and left rotator cuff strain.
His sole focus entering 2026 was to stay healthy and on the mound for the Royals, who view the 28-year-old as the ace of their staff because of his dominant stuff.
Now the Royals will await more information about Ragans on Thursday, while also looking to win the series against the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. They were shut down by Cleveland’s pitching staff Wednesday, scoring just one run off starter Joey Cantillo and not having many opportunities in the middle and back half of the game.