Cole Ragans

March 6, 2026

Roughed up in spring start

Ragans allowed six runs on five hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch over 1.2 innings in Thursday's Cactus League loss to the Rangers. He struck out two.

Analysis

Ragans was ambushed early, allowing the first three hitters of the game to reach before Jake Burger launched a homer from the cleanup spot that quickly put the Rangers ahead by four in the first inning. Kansas City allowed Andrew Perez to finish the first frame before sending Ragans back out for the second inning, where he surrendered another home run to Wyatt Langford. While it certainly wasn't a banner outing for the southpaw, his velocity wasn't a concern, as his fastball averaged 96.8 mph and topped out at 98.5 mph. It was an injury-riddled and disappointing 2025 season for the 28-year-old, who posted a 4.67 ERA and 1.18 WHIP across 13 starts and 61.2 innings. However, a 2.50 FIP, 14.3 K/9 and a career-worst .354 BABIP are data points that have Kansas City believing Ragans can rebound and return closer to his 2024 form in 2026.