Cole Ragans Reaches New Low in Kansas City Royals' Loss to Yankees

(© Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)

The Kansas City Royals suffered another frustrating defeat on Sunday, falling to the New York Yankees as their early-season slide continued. It marked a seventh consecutive loss for the Royals and dropped them even further in the standings.

The loss dropped Kansas City to 7-15, tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in MLB, and the outing marked a new low point for left-hander Cole Ragans. The Royals’ ace entered the year expected to anchor the rotation, but instead he delivered the roughest performance of his five-year MLB career. In fact, his command was the worst it has ever been.

“Cole Ragans set a career-high with seven walks. The next batter, Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham hits a three-run homer,” reported Jaylon T. Thompson of the Kansas City Star.

Ragans would go on to issue one more walk after that update, finishing with a career-high eight free passes in a disastrous outing. It was also notable that he was throwing to Elias Diaz rather than Salvador Perez or rookie Carter Jensen. Diaz, selected from Triple-A on Sunday morning, was making his Royals debut behind the plate. Regardless of the battery, Ragans never found his command at any point and allowed traffic in every inning.

The 28-year-old left-hander took his fourth loss of the season, surrendering seven runs across 4 1/3 innings. His ERA has now ballooned to 6.00, a stunning development for a pitcher who looked like one of baseball’s rising stars not long ago.