The Kansas City Royals may be one of the worst teams in baseball, but starting pitcher Cole Ragans is giving them something to be optimistic about over the second half of the season.
The lefty went 7.0 innings on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He surrendered no runs on three hits. He walked just one and struck out nine. He was given a no-decision as the Royals' bullpen blew the game in a 6-3 loss. He now has a 3.27 ERA for the season and made some baseball history in the month of August.
Per @OptaSTATS on social media:
Cole Ragans of the @Royals struck out 53 men this month. He had never had more than 16 K in a month prior to that. Only one other MLB pitcher in the modern era has had a 50-K month after never previously having even a 20-K month: Hall of Famer Pete Alexander in May 1911 (54).
The 25-year-old has struck out 80 batters in 66.0 innings this year. He made his major league debut in 2022 with the Texas Rangers and appeared in 17 games for Texas this season before landing in Kansas City.
If the Royals can keep Ragans looking like this, he could be a big piece of the team's future. The Royals are generally devoid of young pitching talent, so perhaps he can pair with Brady Singer to make up the next core of Royals starters.
Kansas City is now 41-93 on the year and will take on the Pirates again on Wednesday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.
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