Cole Ragans

From BR Bullpen

Cole Gatlin Ragans

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Cole Ragans was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Compensation Round A of the 2016 amateur draft, with the 30th overall pick. The pick was compensation for the Rangers losing Yovani Gallardo to free agency. He was the Rangers' highest draftee that year, as they had lost their first-round pick for signing free agent Ian Desmond.

In his first professional season, in 2016, he made only 4 appearances and pitched a total of 7 2/3 innings for the AZL Rangers. In 2017, he made 13 starts for the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League, going 3-2, 3.61 and pitching 57 1/ 3 innings. He struck out a very impressive 87 batters during the season. In 2018, he was scheduled to pitch in a full-season league for the first time, but during a spring training intrasquad game, he felt pain in his elbow. He was diagnosed with a torn ligament and had to undergo Tommy John surgery on March 28th, wiping out his season.

He made his major league debut with the Rangers on August 4, 2022 as the starting pitcher against the Chicago White Sox. He gave up just 1 unearned run in 5 innings and was not involved in the decision as Texas won the game, 3-2. In that same game, another #1 pick by the Rangers, Bubba Thompson, also made his debut as the starting left fielder. He went 0-3, 4.95 in 9 games, all starts, pitching 40 innings. Before being called up, he had started the year in AA with the Frisco Rough Riders, then was promoted to the AAA Round Rock Express. In 18 starts between the two stops, he was 8-5, 3.04.

In 2023, he started the season with the Rangers as a reliever and pitched 17 times, going 2-3, 5.92. He was then sent down to AAA Round Rock on June 15th, and made three starts there with no decisions and an ERA of 2.79. On June 30th, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals along with low-level minor leaguer Roni Cabrera in return for hard-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman. He soon distinguished himself as the Royals' most reliable starting pitcher and a rare bright spot in a very difficult season. In August, he picked up 53 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings; before that, his previous high in one month had been 16, and such a jump had not been seen for over one hundred years - more precisely back in 1911 when Grover Cleveland Alexander was emerging as one of baseball's greatest pitchers. This earned him the American League's Pitcher of the Month Award for August after he finished the month at 3-1, 1.72 in his 6 starts, in addition to all the strikeouts. On September 4th, he had another great start, allowing just one hit in six innings to the Chicago White Sox in a 12-1 win, thereby extending his streak of scoreless innings to 21. He pitched five more scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 10th but in the 6th, he walked two batters with two outs, and then slipped while making his first pitch to Alejandro Kirk, the ball going straight to the backstop with the two runners advancing. He seemed to lose his concentration after that as his next two pitches were wild as well, allowing the two runners to score, thus ending his scoreless streak. He finished his rookie season at 7-5, 3.47 in 29 games, including 12 starts, all with K.c., and 113 strikeouts in 96 innings. His numbers with the Royals were even better, as he was 5-2, 2.64 in 12 games after the trade and was clearly the team's best pitcher.

In 2024, he confirmed that he was among the best pitchers in the American League by clinching a spot on the All-Star team. On September 6th, he became only the fifth pitcher in Royals history to have a season with 200 or more strikeouts, and the first left-hander to do so. That came in a 5-0 win over the Minnesota Twins as the two teams were competing for a postseason spot. He finished the season at 11-9, 3.14 in 32 starts, with 223 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings. He was given the ball for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on October 1st and came up with another great performance, tossing six scoreless innings before being taken out of the game with leg cramps. Were it not for that, he could have gone even longer, as he was just at 80 pitches and the Orioles were completely mystified by his offerings. Kansas City ended up winning the game, 1-0.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • AL All-Star (2024)
  • 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (2024)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Theo DeRosa: "The unheralded ace who just might be one of MLB's best pitchers", mlb.com, March 24, 2024. [1]
  • Pete Grathoff (The Kansas City Star): "Royals’ Cole Ragans matched quirky accomplishment last done by an MLB pitcher in 1911", Yahoo! News, August 30, 2023. [2]
  • Anne Rogers: "Ragans' one-hit gem extends scoreless streak to 21 innings", mlb.com, September 4, 2023. [3]
  • Anne Rogers: "With record-setting 200th K, Ragans helps Royals pass Twins for 2nd place", mlb.com, September 7, 2024. [4]
  • Anne Rogers: "Ragans channels adrenaline into Royals' Game 1 shutout: Flamethrowing lefty 'didn't want to push it' with calf cramps as dazzling outing ends after 6", mlb.com, October 1, 2024. [5]
  • Jaylon Thompson (The Kansas City Star): "Royals’ Cole Ragans once wondered if his MLB career was over. Lately, he looks like an ace", Yahoo! News, August 10, 2023. [6]
  • Jeff Wilson: "Cole Ragans won’t pitch in 2018. Why that doesn’t mean he is no longer a top prospect", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 3, 2018. [7]

Related Sites[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Cole_Ragans&oldid=1393592"