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

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(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. History ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

. 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 on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

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

. 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 (MLB) First-Year Player 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 will be d ...

. 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 ...

of the Rookie-level Arizona League, 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 Color ...

of the Class A Short Season Northwest League, 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, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), 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 bo ...

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 season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Ragans opened the 2021 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A East. 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. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the Double-A Central 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 affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

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 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, 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 who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Chica ...

. 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, pitching at an "undeniably elite" level across his first 47 innings with Kansas City. As of September 1, 2023, Ragans had added more velocity in the 2023 season than any other pitcher in MLB, a feat he accredited in part to work with his personal coach and current minor league pitcher

Tyler Zombro Tyler Zombro (born September 2, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He played college baseball for George Mason University before signing with the Rays as an undrafted free agent in 2017. Zombro ...

. He received the AL Pitcher of the Month Award for his performance in the month of August.

References

External links

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