KC Royals can breathe easy as Cole Ragans looks exceptional in return to the mound

After back-to-back rough outings in his last two appearances on the mound, before being forced to miss a turn through the order with a groin strain, it wasn't the best of times for Kansas City Royals ace Cole Ragans.

It was undoubtedly an uneasy time for Royals fans as well, to see their ace marred by some uncertainty and not playing at 100%. While Noah Cameron pitched admirably in his absence, the blue-chip prospect is not quite at the level of importance to this organization that Ragans is.

But Monday night's 3-0 victory did a lot to ease that some of the fanbase's anxiety, as Ragans not only made his return to the mound, but he looked like his usual dominant self again.

Cole Ragans looked exceptional in his return to mound

Before his cold-stretch and groin ailment, Ragans strung together a series of three magnificent starts, each spanning at least five innings and resulting in just one earned run and double-digit strikeouts.

And that's exactly how Monday night looked against the White Sox, as Ragans was on his A-game once again.

He started out with a bang, as after surrendering a leadoff single in the first, he promptly sat down the next three Chicago batters on strikes. He'd then strike out Andrew Vaughn to start the second inning to make it four straight Ks, before adding one to end the inning to make it five through two. Then with two in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth, Ragans would bring his punch out total up to 11 for the night.

His final line in this one; 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K. Not bad for a return to action.

It was a masterclass that will certainly be a huge relief to the Royals, as they look to maintain their top five rotation in MLB that's largely carried them to their 20-16 record on the year.

Now, as much as this start is relieving, at no point was their ever any real doubt that Ragans still had this in him, after those aforementioned three starts, his elite 96th percentile K-rate and the Cy-Young caliber track record he possesses - after finishing fourth in American League voting in 2024. It was just a matter of when we would see that arm return.

Kansas City's staff will look to build off Ragans' big night when their other All-Star in the rotation in Seth Lugo takes the bump at 6:40 p.m. CT on Tuesday.