Royals' Cole Ragans Makes 4-Word Admission About 8th-Inning Exit Vs. Guardians
In this story:
When the Kansas City Royals needed a stopper, Cole Ragans was there.
The Royals dropped the first two games of their weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians, meaning they trailed 4-1 in the season series as well. Sure, it's only April, but you never want to dig yourself a hole in a meaningful division race.
Luckily, the Royals' lefty was masterful at Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland on Sunday. He pitched 7 2/3 innings, a new career high, with just one earned run allowed in Kansas City's 4-2 win over their American League Central rivals.
Not only did Ragans pitch the deepest into a game he ever has, but he was only at 89 pitches. A hamstring cramp had bothered him for most of the outing and likely played a factor in the decision to remove him from the game in the eighth inning.
After the game, Ragans said he was well aware that with his pitch count as low as it was, there was a chance he could have tossed his first career complete game.
“Oh man, I know,” Ragans said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “Trust me, I thought about it. I thought about it. But we’ve got some good guys in the back end there. They know what they’re doing.”
Ragans may not have gone the distance, but he gave the Royals exactly what he needed. It's what he's done all season, with a Major League Baseball-best 34 strikeouts and a stingy 2.28 ERA through 23 2/3 innings.
How good has Ragans been? Well, take a look at what Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals' biggest superstar, had to say about his teammate.
“It was unbelievable,” Witt said, per Rogers. “Just from pitch one, attacking and him being him. … He’s a competitor out there. If I was facing him, I wouldn’t want to get behind to where he’s throwing all those pitches.”
More MLB: Royals 27-Year-Old Draws Favorable Comparison To Two-Time World Series Champion
Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
Follow jrobertsbsbl