KC Royals News: Cole Ragans update, Tyler Tolbert's first hit, Logan Porter's call-up

As the baseball season rages on Royals fans’ focus will start shifting towards some of the key moments the big league summer has to offer, including the trade deadline rumor mill heating up, the upcoming MLB draft, and this year's Midsummer Classic - where voting has already begun.

As important as those all are, there's still been plenty of other headlines this week that fans need to know.

KC Royals News: Cole Ragans' latest injury leaves ambiguous timeline

The Royals gave there fans some difficult news ahead of Wednesday's contest with the New York Yankees, after they announced Cole Ragans would be hitting the 15-day IL.

The reasoning for it was a left abductor strain, however it seemingly came as a bit of a shock to most, as there’s some initial uncertainty around when Ragans will be able to return.

Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported some of that ambiguity after the announcement was made, saying that the Royals “were waiting on a few test results to come back before determining severity and timeline."

According to her, Ragans reportedly felt shoulder soreness after his return from the IL on Thursday.

While the tests will need to come back in order to know a more concrete timeline, Rogers indicated this might not be a brief trip to the injured list like his last stint was.

KC Royals News: Tyler Tolbert opened his major league hitting account on Tuesday

While the main focus of Royals fans on Tuesday may have rested in the 10-2 beat down they received from the Yankees or from the late inning antics committed by their newly appointed villain in Jazz Chisholm Jr., there were certainly other storylines to follow that night.

One of which was the newly promoted super utility man Tyler Tolbert finally coming through with the bat.

After coming in as a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth inning, Tolbert would find a way to sneak a single through the left side of the infield for his first major league hit.

Known mainly for his blistering speed, he hasn't received many shots at the big league level to achieve this momentous feat.

At the time that was just Tolbert's sixth big league plate appearance in 14 games. After getting another shot at the dish and grounding out in the ninth, his current big league average sits at .143 - nothing great by any means, but at least he can say he's finally on the board.

KC Royals News: Former catcher Logan Porter gets back to the majors with San Francisco

Now we move to a career update from an old friend, as former Royals backstop Logan Porter has found his way back to the big leagues.

The San Francisco Giants announced on Wednesday that they'd selected Porter’s contract from Triple-A, to account for the injury to their starting catcher Patrick Bailey.

Porter started his career in the Royals’ system back in 2018 and was with them up until part way through 2024. This included a brief 11-game stop at the big league level in 2023 for Kansas City, where he slashed .194/.324/.323 with an 82 wRC+ in 38 plate appearances.

This was the last time Porter was on a big league roster until Wednesday's announcement, as he spent 2024 bouncing around multiple Triple-A organizations after the Royals traded him to the Giants, who would then cut him loose before he found his way into the Mets organization.

He'd eventually sign back with the Giants this winter on a minor league deal, where he’s spent his time solely in Sacramento, slashing .237/.350/.319 in 161 plate appearances across 40 games.