KANSAS CITY -- After just 58 pitches thrown across three innings, Royals starter Cole Ragans exited Wednesday’s game against the Guardians with left triceps and elbow soreness, according to the team.
It wasn’t immediately clear when that injury occurred during Ragans’ short outing, but 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.
Ragans worked his way through a jam in the third with runners on first and second with two outs, getting out of it with a popout to secure a scoreless frame. His command was shaky on the night, navigating his way through a 28-pitch first inning with two walks, but Ragans also had four strikeouts by the time the third inning ended.
A dip in velocity can be an indicator of a potential injury, but Ragans’ 95.6 mph average fastball velocity was normal and actually a tick up from his season average of 94.8 mph. However, it did vary a bit in the third, ranging from 92-94 mph, which isn’t completely 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 the 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.