It seems the Royals will be without Cole Ragans for a while. Manager Matt Quatraro tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that the lefty will go for a second opinion on his ailing shoulder next week. Kansas City placed Ragans on the 15-day injured list with a rotator cuff strain yesterday. Quatraro indicated that the team does not expect the issue will require surgery but suggested that Ragans will be shut down from throwing for a decent amount of time.
It’s the second injured list stint of the season for the All-Star lefty. Ragans missed a few weeks between late May and early June with a groin strain. He returned for one start and was tagged for five runs in three innings against St. Louis on June 5. Ragans didn’t feel right during his between-starts routine, leading to the testing that revealed the rotator cuff strain. He’ll surely miss more time with this injury than he did for the groin.
The Royals will operate with a five-man starting staff comprising Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic, Michael Wacha, Michael Lorenzen and rookie Noah Cameron. It’s still a good group overall, but it’s obviously far better when Ragans is at full strength. He finished fourth in Cy Young balloting while recording 223 strikeouts over 32 starts a season ago. While he was on an even better strikeout pace this season, an unsustainably high .382 average on balls in play had led to an earned run average north of 5.00.
Kansas City will have a better idea of Ragans’ timetable next week. It’s hard to envision him returning before the All-Star Break. The front office is unlikely to pour many resources into the rotation even if Ragans is out into or beyond the end of July.
A top three of Lugo, Bubic and Wacha remains excellent. Cameron pitched well over his first five MLB starts before the Yankees knocked him around on Tuesday. Lorenzen has been up-and-down but is generally a serviceable fifth starter. Kyle Wright has made four rehab starts and might not be far away from his team debut; he could work in long relief or push Lorenzen or Cameron for the final rotation spot. Improving a punchless bottom half of the lineup figures to be the top priority if the Royals — who have dropped below .500 after being swept by the Yankees — remain close enough to contention to add.
