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BREAKING: Kansas City Royals Lose Ace to Injury at Critical Juncture

As the Kansas City Royals battle for a playoff spot in 2024, they saw ace pitcher Cole Ragans leave the game early on Monday. Here's the latest.

Brady Farkas

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans (55) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Aug 26.
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans (55) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Aug 26. / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
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Kansas City Royals ace left-hander Cole Ragans left Monday's game against the Cleveland Guardians early with injury. The Royals are playing a doubleheader against Cleveland and Ragans started game one.

Here's the latest, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com:

Cole Ragans exited with a left calf/hamstring cramp, according to the #Royals

There's no word yet on the severity of the injury or if Ragans will need to miss additional time, but this is a big story to monitor for Kansas City. One of the best lefties in the league, Ragans is 10-8 with a 3.28 ERA this year. He went 4.0 innings in the contest on Monday before coming out. He had struck out four batters.

The 26-year-old also made the All-Star team this year. Kansas City entered play on Monday in a tie for the second wild card position in the American League and Ragans is a big reason why, so they can ill-afford to lose him. They are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015, which is also the last time they won the World Series.

Ragans is 17-16 on his young career. He was acquired by the Royals at the trade deadline in 2023 in a deal that sent reliever Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers. Chapman went onto help the Rangers win their first World Series title.

The two teams will play again later on Monday and the Royals will continue to monitor Ragan's progress. We'll have the information for you here as it becomes available.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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