Royals Injured List Update: Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo Hit 15-Day DL – What It Means for the Team

The Kansas City Royals recently announced that two of their key pitchers are heading to the injured list. Cole Ragans is out with a left groin strain, while Seth Lugo has a sprained middle finger. Lugo’s placement is retroactive to May 14, meaning he will be sidelined for at least 15 days. To fill their spots, the Royals called up left-handers Noah Cameron and Evan Sisk from Triple-A.

Cameron is stepping in to start against the Cardinals today. His promotion isn’t a shock; he was already expected to take Lugo’s turn in the rotation. Lugo’s injury was initially thought to be just inflammation, but further tests revealed a sprain, making it clear he’ll need time to recover.

Ragans is also dealing with ongoing issues. A few weeks ago, he skipped a start due to a similar groin problem and had to leave his last game against the Cardinals early. He’ll now rest to heal, hoping to return in better form. Unfortunately, this injury could be a factor in his recent struggles, as he’s had a high ERA of 7.20 over his last two starts.

Interestingly, Ragans has been pitching better than his overall statistics suggest. He boasts a strong strikeout rate of 37.7% and a respectable walk rate of 6.8%. Advanced metrics show that he’s performing well below his potential, having a 2.28 SIERA and a .249 xwOBA. By contrast, he finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting just last season.

Lugo, the runner-up for the AL Cy Young last year, also seems to be slightly outpacing his secondary stats. While his cumulative ERA over the past two seasons stands at 3.01, his SIERA is a more modest 4.00. He relies on solid control and a powerful curveball, allowing him to succeed even without high strikeout numbers.

In his previous start this season, Cameron shone brightly, pitching 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Rays. He’ll now have the chance to prove himself over the next weeks as the rotation needs reinforcements.

Losing two starters at once is challenging for any team. The Royals’ options are limited, especially with Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright still on the injured list. They recently signed Rich Hill, but he’s still ramping up and won’t be ready to pitch just yet. There’s also rookie Luinder Avila who might get his shot, or Thomas Hatch if there’s a need to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Despite these setbacks, Kansas City’s rotation has been impressive this year, supported by contributions from Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen. This strong pitching has kept the Royals competitive in the tight AL Central, but they now need their hitters to step up and find additional support in the rotation to stay in the playoff hunt.

For more details on player injuries and team dynamics, you can check the MLB Injury Report.

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