Royals Place Pair Of Aces On Injured List

On Friday, the Kansas City Royals fell 10-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the I-70 series opener. Cole Ragans drew the start and allowed four runs over five innings of work.

Before facing Masyn Winn, Ragans was removed from the game and walked off the field with the training staff. Kansas City had already announced that left-hander Noah Cameron would start in place of Seth Lugo on Saturday.

Before Saturday's game, the Royals announced some very unfortunate news. Cameron and left-hander Evan Sisk have been recalled from Triple-A Omaha, but those were corresponding moves to the team placing both Lugo and Ragans on the injured list.

"Neither IL placement comes as a big surprise, as it was already known that Cameron would be making a spot start in what was initially Lugo’s regular turn in the rotation Saturday.  Lugo’s finger issue was initially described as inflammation, and it arose in his last outing on May 11," Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors wrote.

"Ragans had one of his own starts skipped a few weeks ago due to a groin strain, and he left during the sixth inning of Friday’s game with St. Louis due to a similar groin issue."

This is a huge blow for the Royals, who have turned their season around after an 8-14 start thanks in large part to their starting rotation. Kris Bubic has pitched well, but without Ragans and Lugo, the team is missing two important pieces.

We'll see how long they will be out.

More MLB: Royals Dealt Tough Blow After Staff Ace Leaves With Groin Injury