Former Rangers No. 1 overall pick Cole Ragans has been one of the top starting pitchers in Major League Baseball over the last five weeks of the season.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, Ragans didn't meet the high expectations that come with being a top overall pick under their roof. Ragans, who was traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Aroldis Chapman in June, was 2-6 with a 5.32 ERA (38 ER/64.1 IP) in 26 games (9 starts) for Texas over the last two seasons.
Since being traded to Kansas City? Ragans is 4-1 with a 1.51 ERA in eight starts. In his last three starts, the 25-year-old allowed just six hits and zero earned runs and struck out 27 in 19 innings of work.
And while those starts came against inferior opponents (Oakland, Pittsburgh and the Chicago White Sox), Ragans also pitched well against Tampa Bay (5 IP 1 ER), the New York Mets (6 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks) and Boston (1 ER, 11 Ks).
For whatever reason, the Rangers organization has always struggled to develop quality starting pitching, and Ragans is the latest example of that flaw. And why is Ragans having so much success in Kansas City? According to a source close to 105.3 The Fan's Mike Bacsik, the left-hander added an off-speed pitch to his repertoire when he joined the Royals.
"I made a call ... I had to ask ... 'so, Cole Ragans, what's the difference (from what he was doing in Texas vs. KC)?' And the answer I got is concerning. 'Well, he didn't have a breaking ball and Kansas City taught him how to throw a breaking ball,'" Bascik relayed via a source on the K&C Masterpiece on Tuesday. "From what I understand, they taught Cole Ragans how to throw a slider with his mid-90s to high-90s fastball."
Bascik's comments sparked a larger conversation about the club's inability to develop starting pitching. Listen to K&C Masterpiece's conversation in the podcast above.