A Role Change for Cole Ragans Might be Beneficial for Him and the Royals
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This offseason is a crucial one for the Royals if they want to try to compete in 2027, and with many gaps on the roster needing to be filled, they have a lot of options for routes to take to fill those gaps. With the bullpen being one of those crucial needs, the Royals might toy with the idea of putting Cole Ragans in the arm barn going forward.
2026 was a major disappointment for Ragans as injuries continued to plague his career. In his third start of the season, he hurt his thumb on a hard comebacker in Cleveland, but it didn't force him to miss any starts. About a month later, however, he felt triceps soreness, which then turned into elbow impingement, landing him on the 15-day IL. Then on May 17, it was deemed that he would be transferred to the 60-day IL, as he needed UCL repair surgery after feeling continued discomfort in his rehab assignment. With that, he isn't expected to make his return until June-July as he recovers from the surgery.
That ended a disappointing beginning to the season that saw Ragans pitch 35.1 innings with a 4.84 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 11.46 K/9, 5.86 BB/, and 2.55 HR/9. In a very similar fashion to Seth Lugo, Ragan's 2024 self seems so far away, and there is a solid chance we don't see that version again. Let's do a quick deep dive on Ragans 2026.
Walks, the Long Ball, and Launch Angles
Three numbers describe the 2026 season for Ragans: his walk rate of 15.2%, the 10 HRs he gave up in 35.1 innings, and a 20.2-degree launch angle against him. Starting with the walks, it boils down to him not being in the zone as often as usual, with a 44.4% zone rate. While he isn't in the zone as much as some other pitchers, he usually sits around the 48%-50% range. That also forced hitters to not swing at as many pitches and the swing rate against Ragans dipped to 45.4%, a drop of 4% from 2025.
Batters were being/forced to be more selective, and with that came the quality of contact and batted-ball profile for Ragans. Batters hit the ball hard 39.8%, had an average exit velocity of 89.6 mph, and a 15.2% barrel rate against Ragans. Combine that with his fly ball rate being 53.7%, and that is not an ideal combination for preventing home runs. To be specific, his HR/FB rate was a staggering 22.7%, nearly doubling his 2025 rate.
In short, batters were looking for more pitches to drive, and when they drove the ball, it was hit hard and far. It also didn't help that Ragan's secondary pitches were not effective. His 4-seam fastball was great, as batters only hit .133 off of it, but his changeup was not so lucky. Batters hit .318 off Ragan's changeup and had a .636 slugging percentage. His curveball was even worse as batters hit .800 and slugged 2.600 off that offering.
His slider was solid, as the only issue it had was that it was slugged at a .421 clip. All of these numbers accurately describe the 2026 season for Ragans; ineffective stuff mixed with not throwing a lot of strikes led to batters being selective and crushing his secondary stuff. Despite all of the negatives, however, the bullpen might be the best spot for Ragans to get right and reactualize his potential.
Royals need Bullpen Help and Have Success Turning Starters into Relievers
Wade Davis, Ian Kennedy, Kris Bubic (for a season), Mike Minor, Luke Hochevar, and Daniel Lynch all have similar backstories. They came into the MLB as starting pitchers, and once they came to the Royals, they made the switch, either long-term or short-term, to the bullpen. More often than not, the change proved beneficial for both the Royals and the players. Davis went from a fringe rotation piece to putting together one of the most dominant stretches by a reliever ever. Kennedy went from a struggling middle-of-the-rotation guy to a guy who had a 30-save season.
In short, the Royals have a strong history of success with this kind of role change, and Ragans is arguably one of the better candidates to make the switch. He already has elite stuff, 109 stuff+, has experience in the bullpen, albeit with limited success, and the Royals badly need bullpen help. Another key thing about that group is that most of them had a good-great fastball, i.e. Davis with his cutter and 4-seam, Hochever with his cutter, Kennedy and Bubic with their 4-seam, and Lynch with his sinker.
The move would give Ragans ample opportunity to figure himself out again while also, hopefully, limiting injuries. He already has a deadly one-two punch when it is on, in his 4-seam and changeup, and more often than not, a pitcher's stuff ticks up when moved to the bullpen. The main issue with a role change is: what would his bullpen role be?
Using the previous examples, a majority of them were middle relievers or setup men. Kennedy became the closer solely because the Royals didn't have another option (Scott Barlow was in his second season as a primary setup man), and Davis wasn't even the primary closer until Greg Holland got hurt in 2015.
Ragans would probably take a middle relief role to start to build up confidence and to see how he reacts to those situations. In the long run, however, if the move does work, Ragans could very well be a closer just on the stuff profile alone. While Ragans probably won't be ready to pitch until the summer of 2027, the Royals making the role change would probably change how aggressive they get in the bullpen market.
Conclusion
With the many holes on the Royals roster needing to be filled and Cole Ragans' stock being at an all-time low, it wouldn't be the worst thing to entertain a role change for him. A move to the bullpen gives the Royals another option when he returns from his UCL repair surgery, especially if Lynch stays in the rotation, and gives Ragans a chance to rebuild his stock. Plus, if it works out, the Royals get another success story with the change and probably a good to great back of the bullpen guy.
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Trey is no stranger to writing about the Royals as he has done it for 6 years now for various blogs (Kings of Kauffman, Inside The Royals, and Farm to Fountains). He is a graduate of Baker University with a degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in sports media. He enjoys watching and researching sports as well as gaming.
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