{"id":2226687,"date":"2026-01-08T05:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2226687"},"modified":"2026-01-08T05:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:27:30","slug":"royals-cole-ragans-announces-personal-news-on-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-cole-ragans-announces-personal-news-on-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals&#8217; Cole Ragans Announces Personal News on Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/kansas-city-royals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kansas City Royals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kansas City Royals<\/a> have not made any notable additions to the pitching staff this offseason. A big reason for that is the presence of left-handed ace Cole Ragans, who is expected to enter the 2026 season at full health after missing significant time last year.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old made just 13 starts and posted a 4.67 ERA while battling a left groin strain and later a left rotator cuff strain that nearly ended his season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Still, there is optimism that Ragans can return to the form he showed during his breakout, as he struck out 98 batters in only 61 2\/3 innings in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Ragans has surfaced in trade rumors as the Royals seek offensive upgrades, but midway through the winter it appears he will remain in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans (55)Peter Aiken-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ragans\u2019 focus has momentarily shifted away from baseball as the new year begins. On Wednesday, he and his wife Tori shared a personal announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Accompanied by a series of photos, the couple posted an ultrasound image revealing they are expecting their first child. \u201cAn extra special bump day coming this summer \ud83e\udd0d,\u201d the caption read.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<section class=\"consent\"\/>\n<p>Ragans\u2019 journey to this point has been anything but straightforward. Drafted in the first round by the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/texas-rangers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Texas Rangers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Texas Rangers<\/a> in 2016, he battled injuries early in his career and did not debut until 2022.<\/p>\n<p>His first taste of the big leagues was rocky, as he struggled to find consistency and command. In 2023, however, his career took a dramatic turn when the Rangers traded him to Kansas City in exchange for veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman.<\/p>\n<p>Almost immediately, Ragans found his stride with the Royals, flashing dominant stuff in the second half of that season and cementing himself as a fixture in the rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The pinnacle came in 2024, when Ragans delivered one of the best pitching seasons in franchise history. He earned his first All-Star selection, finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting and helped lead Kansas City back to the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>Over 32 starts, he posted a 3.14 ERA and struck out 223 batters, showcasing both durability and dominance. That campaign established him as the ace of the staff and gave the Royals confidence that they had a frontline arm to build around.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with his health restored and his personal life bringing new joy, Ragans enters 2026 looking to recapture that form and once again anchor Kansas City\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/royals-bobby-witt-jr-shares-210243361.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Related: Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. Shares Move Outside MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Related: Royals&#8217; Bobby Witt Jr. Shares Move Outside MLB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was originally published by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/kansas-city-royals\/royals-cole-ragans-announces-personal-news-amid-mlb-offseason\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Athlon Sports;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jan 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=athlonsports.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Royals have not made any notable additions to the pitching staff this offseason. A big reason for that is the presence of left-handed ace Cole Ragans, who is expected to enter the 2026 season at full health after missing significant time last year. The 28-year-old made just 13 starts and posted a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2226688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[345064,311239,310650,43627,307792,22091],"class_list":["post-2226687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-cole-ragans","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-texas-rangers","tag-the-royals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Royals-Cole-Ragans-Announces-Personal-News-on-Wednesday.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2226687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2226689,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226687\/revisions\/2226689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2226688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2226687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2226687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2226687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}