Cole Gatlin Ragans (born December 12, 1997) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers.

Amateur career

Ragans attended

North Florida Christian High School North Florida Christian School (NFCS) is a private Christian school in Tallahassee, Florida, originally founded as a segregation academy. The school is administered by North Florida Baptist Church, formerly known as Temple Baptist Church. Histor ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

. In his senior season, Ragans went 9–0 with a 0.90 ERA and 104 strikeouts over 70 innings. He committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

. Ragans was drafted by the Texas Rangers, with the 30th overall selection, in the first round of the

2016 Major League Baseball Draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

. He signed with Texas for a $2,003,400

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

Professional career

Texas Rangers

After signing, he was assigned to the

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

, posting a 4.70 ERA in innings. He spent 2017 with the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

, where he pitched to a 3–2 record and a 3.61 ERA along with 87 strikeouts in innings. Ragans underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

in March 2018 and missed all of the 2018 season. On May 14, 2019, the Rangers announced that Ragans had suffered a tear in the graft of his surgically repaired left elbow during his rehabilitation process. The tear resulted in a second Tommy John procedure which resulted in him missing the entire 2019 season. Ragans did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Ragans opened the 2021 season with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

. In June 2021, Ragans was selected to play in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. Ragans was promoted to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

of the

Double-A Central The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

on July 18, after going 1–2 with a 3.25 ERA and 54 strikeouts over innings for Hickory. He finished 2021 after posting a 3–1 record with a 5.70 ERA and 33 strikeouts over innings for Frisco. Ragans returned to Frisco to open the 2022 season, going 5–3 with a 2.81 ERA and 65 strikeouts over innings, before being promoted to the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

on June 14. Over 8 starts for Round Rock, Ragans went 3–2 with a 3.32 ERA and 48 strikeouts over innings. He was named the Texas Rangers 2022

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...

Pitcher of the Year. On August 4, 2022, Texas selected Ragans' contract and promoted him to the active roster for the first time. In his MLB debut that night versus the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, Ragans allowed one unearned run over five innings while recording three strikeouts. Over 9 game for Texas, Ragans went 0–3 with a 4.96 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 40 innings in 2022. He went 2-3 with a 5.92 ERA in 17 appearances with the Rangers in 2023.

Kansas City Royals

On June 30, 2023, the Rangers traded Ragans and minor league outfielder Roni Cabrera to the

in exchange for

Aroldis Chapman Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New Y ...

. After joining the Royals and moving from the bullpen, where he had made all of his 2023 appearances with Texas, to the starting rotation, Ragans saw increased success across his first 47 innings with Kansas City. He received the AL Pitcher of the Month Award for his performance in the month of August. In 2024, after posting a 3.28 ERA in 19 starts, Ragans was selected to his first

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

. On September 6, in a game versus the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

, Ragans became the fifth pitcher in Royals history (after

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Greinke last played for the Kansas City Royals, with whom he played across two stints, from his 2004 debut to 2010, and from 202 ...

in 2009,

Kevin Appier Robert Kevin Appier (; born December 6, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Kansas City Royals. Appier's solid pitching during his first full season i ...

in 1996, Dennis Leonard in 1977, and Bob Johnson in 1970) to

strike out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safel ...

200 batters in a single season. On February 14, 2025, Ragans signed a three-year, $13.25 million contract with the Royals covering his final pre-arbitration year and his first two arbitration years. Ragans will earn $1.25 million in 2025, $4.5 million in 2026, and $7.5 million in 2027.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragans, Cole 1997 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona League Rangers players Baseball players from Gainesville, Florida Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Storm Chasers players Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players