Royals left-hander Cole Ragans went on the 15-day injured list due to a rotator cuff strain on June 11th, retroactive to June 8th. It was reported shortly thereafter that he would be getting a second opinion on his shoulder. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that the second opinion confirmed the rotator cuff strain, with a recommended four-week shutdown period from his initial injury.
His most recent outing was on June 5th, so four weeks from that date would be July 3rd. He’ll be re-evaluated at that point and, if declared healthy, will start to ramp back up. It therefore seems like, even in a best-case scenario, he won’t be available until after the All-Star break.
That will be a situation to monitor for the Royals, as a healthy Ragans is a key piece of their optimal roster. He logged 186 1/3 innings for them last year with a 3.14 earned run average, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Here in 2025, he’s had to work around a groin strain and this shoulder injury but has actually improved his strikeout and walk rates to 36.4% and 7.7%. His ERA has unfortunately climbed to 5.18 but that seems to be mostly bad luck, as his .382 batting average on balls in play and 62.1% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side.
That will be a situation to monitor throughout the month of July, with the deadline on July 31st. They are currently 1.5 games out of a playoff spot and will likely be looking to buy. The rotation is a strength for the Royals, so they will presumably be more focused on offensive upgrades. Even if Ragans isn’t fully back by the end of July, if he is trending in that direction, it would presumably give them more confidence about that plan.
For now, the Kansas City rotation is fronted by Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Michael Wacha. That trio is backed up by Michael Lorenzen and Noah Cameron. Lorenzen is a serviceable back-end guy, with a 4.91 ERA this year. Cameron’s 1.91 ERA looks far nicer but is misleading. His 7.4% walk rate is a solid number and his 42.7% ground ball rate close to average but his 19.6% strikeout rate is subpar. A .191 BABIP and 89.5% strand rate are doing him some favors, with his 3.63 FIP and 4.22 SIERA pointing to regression.
Kyle Wright could also be a factor soon, as he is on a rehab assignment and tossed four scoreless innings in his most recent Triple-A start. However, he’s a big unknown since he missed most of 2023 and all of 2024 due to a shoulder injury which required surgery.
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