Cole Ragans is the best KC Royals pitcher ever (so far). Here is why.

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Do it. Buy that Cole Ragans jersey. In 2024, the KC Royals starter will prove that his electric stint last season in Kansas City was not an outlier. Manager Matt Quatraro gave the flame-throwing lefty the start on Opening Day, and Ragans has not looked back. But we need to look back and prove that Ragans isn't just a great Royals pitcher in recent history; he may be the best of all time.

The KC Royals trading for Cole Ragans continues to look better.

Ragans' MLB career will last longer than his 16 starts for the Royals. But that is a large enough sample size to see peaks and valleys in his pitching performance. Some days have been better than others, but overall, Ragans is an elite pitcher, and we are very lucky to have him in a Royals uniform.

Do you believe Ragans could be one of the best Kansas City pitchers ever? Here are four metrics that prove he is on the right track.

Note: All statistics below are the best Royals' pitching marks through a player's first 16 starts with the franchise. Whether it be as a rookie or newcomer veteran, Ragans stands above the rest.

118 - Most strikeouts

In modern baseball, chasing strikeouts reigns supreme. A pitcher can always keep runs off the board, but inducing weak contact isn't nearly as sexy as a 100-mph fastball. Ragans departs from past Royals pitchers, dazzling with his pitching arsenal and several overpowering pitches. This leads to him racking up 188 strikeouts in his first 16 starts, nearly 20 more than the next Royals pitcher on the list.

After joining the Royals, Ragans was a strikeout king from the start. His 53 strikeouts in August 2023 not only earned him AL Pitcher of the Month honors, but they were the second-most strikeouts in a month for any Royals pitcher. Dennis Leonard's 55 punchouts in June 1977 are the franchise record, but that is a pretty good pitcher to be second to.

Ragans is maintaining his strikeout pace to start this season, proving that his 12 starts last year were not a fluke. He has 29 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings, good for an 11.19 K/9. That is the fourth-best mark for AL starters so far in 2024. Ragans has the third-best odds to win this year's AL Cy Young so that strikeout rate has a strong correlation to his chances.

26 - Fewest earned runs

What is the best way for a starting pitcher to win over baseball fans? Keep the opposition off the scoreboard. How many earned runs a pitcher allows tells people how they control the game, keep their respective teams competitive in each start, and just set a better tone for the game as a whole. Ragans limiting the opposition's scoring so well is one reason why Royals fans boarded the Cole Train so fast.

The lefty has allowed more than three earned runs in two of his sixteen Kansas City starts, compared to 10 quality starts in that span. Ragans has a better chance of allowing two or fewer runs at the start than not. That is why Royals fans clamored for him to be the rotation's top guy, and he is.

Believe it or not, Ragans is better so far in 2024 than he was in 2023. His current 1.93 ERA, 2.35 FIP, and 4.14 K/BB ratio are all improvements from last season. All of these contribute to his keeping the opposition off the scoreboard so far in 2024. His five earned runs allowed ties for the fifth-best mark among starters with at least 20 innings pitched this season.

Let's add some context here. There is a reason Ragans' 2.46 ERA is second to Royals pitcher Andy Hassler's 2.33 ERA through 16 starts. Hassler pitched in Kansas City from 1976–1978, with four of his first 16 franchise starts being complete games. He pitched 104 1/3 innings, averaging more than 6 1/3 innings per start. The MLB has moved from workhorse starters to pitchers like Ragans, who then hand the ball over to the bullpen.

61.1 - Highest Game Score

Developed by renowned baseball mind and statistician Bill James, Game Score is a rolling metric that grades a starting pitcher's performance. A Game Score is calculated by factoring in both the excellence (based on runs, hits, HR, walks, and strikeouts) and duration (innings) of the starting pitcher's play. Given that 50 is the average mark on the scale, Ragan's above-average mark across 16 starts speaks to his consistency in a Royals uniform.

The Game Score operates on a scale typically ranging from 0 to 100, with an average performance scoring around 50 points. A pitcher starts off with 50 points. Points are then added or subtracted based on the pitcher's performance during the game:

Additions: A pitcher earns one point for each out made, two points for each inning completed after the fourth, and one point for each strikeout.
Subtractions: Two points are deducted for hits and unearned runs, with one point for walks and four points for each earned run.

For example, Ragans earned a 42 Game Score for his Aug. 12, 2023, start against the St. Louis Cardinals. He allowed three earned runs in six innings that day, but walked four batters to only five strikeouts. Conversely, he had two games with a 79 Game Score last season. Both his Aug. 29 and 29 starts were shutouts, but he pitched one more inning on Aug. 29 while striking out more batters in the Aug. 23 start.

This is a minute stat, and I understand if you roll your eyes at this entry. But Ragans leads several notable Kansas City pitchers with his average Game Score (so far).

Player	Average Game Score	Starts
Cole Ragans	61.1	16
David Cone	59.1	57
Bret Saberhagen	56.6	226
James Shields	56.4	68
Kevin Appier	55.5	275
Dennis Leonard	53.5	302

98 - Fewest total bases allowed

Is this another minute statistical edge? Sure, you can say that. But the total number of bases a pitcher allows the opposition has a direct correlation to their scoring. While Ragans may not have the best record for limiting hits overall, he does have a nine-base advantage over Brady Singer. Why is that?

Both players have the same amount of extra-base hits allowed, with 17 in their first 16 starts. Singer's 69 hits allowed in that span are nice, for sure, and lead all Royals pitchers. But Singer has allowed 10 more earned runs than Ragans, thanks partially to Singer's 10 home runs allowed. Compared to Ragans' four, that is a difference of 24 bases alone and those 10 extra runs.

We can use total bases allowed per game as another benchmark to evaluate their performance. For example, Ragans' best start so far this season came against the Baltimore Orioles on April 3. You can point out that he had no earned runs allowed, seven strikeouts, or one hit allowed, which was his best start. But he surrendered only two bases on a double, and that was the only damage.

Total bases are not a perfect benchmark, especially since they do not account for walks. But it is another way to demonstrate how Ragans doesn't let batters beat him; only Ragans can beat him on a good day.

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