Royals fans catch glimpse of worst nightmare after Cole Ragans exits start early

The Kansas City Royals entered Wednesday's rubber-match in their series against their division rivals in the Cleveland Guardians with a huge advantage on the mound.

They'd be turning to their ace Cole Ragans to hopefully guide them to a series win heading into the their weekend four-game home set against the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately though, Ragans' start ended before it even really began.

Ragans exited the game before recording a full registered inning of work, following taking a 92 mph José Ramírez comebacker off his throwing hand just three batters into the contest.

Ragans did advocate to stay in the game and was given the benefit of the doubt from manager Matt Quatraro and the medical staff, but after throwing five straight balls, following his four pitch walk of David Fry, Ragans surrendered a double off a 1-0 pitch to Chase DeLauter that plated two.

That would be the end of his afternoon, which was especially unfortunate given the fact he looked like he picked right back up where he left off following his strong start versus the Twins last week. He started the game looking sharp, catching Steven Kwan and Angel Martínez looking right off the hop.

And now Royals fans have to wait and see just what fate, if any, comes of their ace's early exit.

Unfortunately for them, this has become an all too familiar fate of late when discussing Ragans, following his injury-ridden season a year ago.

While a hand ailment - which appeared to be suffered on the meatier portion of his hand - doesn't seem nearly as bad as the groin or shoulder ailments from a year ago, you can't help but feel that sense of unwanted déjà vu regarding his health.

Royals can't afford to lose Cole Ragans (especially this early in the season)

The Royals had plenty of bright spots in their rotation in 2025, whether it was Kris Bubic becoming an All-Star arm, Michael Wacha continued to be a veteran rock or unexpected young arms like Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert or Stephen Kolek emerging as reliable major league rotation pieces.

However, there's no denying that having Ragans at the peak of his powers would've elevated this staff that much more. So, just 10 starts - most of this were underwhwlming due to simply not feeling right - was not the ideal performance for Kansas City in a season where the ended up missing the playoffs after their ALDS run a year prior.

This was the year that many hoped would not only be a rebound year for the team, but Ragans in particular.

And so far, with the offense struggling to find consistency once again, it's been the starting staff that's been leaned upon and they've delivered.

Entering Wednesday's game, the Royals rotation ranked top five in MLB in ERA and top 10 in innings pitched, with Wacha, Lugo and Cameron all leading the charge with sub-2.00 ERAs.

And after a rough Opening Day outing for Ragans, he joined in on the fun in his last start, going 6.0 innings without surrendering a earned run on four hits, one walk and struck out eight Twins batters. And in all three outings, he's continued to look the strikeout machine he's gained a reputation for being since arriving for Kansas City back in 2023.

He's their ace for a reason and huge reason as to why many believe the Royals have a real chance to bounce back in 2026.

So, again, while this injury seems a lot less intense than his previous two, the thought of another trip to an IL is not what anyone had in mind. Not Ragans, not the Royals and certainly not the fanbase.

We'll all have to wait for an official update on Ragans' status.