KC Royals name AL Cy Young finalist as 2025 opening day starter against Guardians
The Kansas City Royals will hand Cole Ragans the baseball on opening day.
The club announced Sunday that Ragans will start against the Cleveland Guardians on March 27 at Kauffman Stadium. It’s his second consecutive opening day start since coming to the KC organization in 2023.
Ragans made significant strides in 2024, finishing fourth in voting for the American League Cy Young Award. He was 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings (32 games).
The Royals rewarded Ragans with a contract extension this offseason, giving him a significant pay raise over the next three seasons. Ragans will make $13.25 million in 2025, a figure that also covers his first two years of salary arbitration.
Ragans will spearhead a Royals pitching rotation that’s brimming with All-Stars. Also in the starting four: Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen. The Royals will choose a fifth starter this spring.
Ragans has certainly earned his second straight opening day nod.
In the last two years, he increased his velocity after undergoing two Tommy John surgeries. He also implemented a new slider and gained valuable postseason experience.
“So is he what we hoped and more? Yeah, he is,” Royals general manager J.J.Picollo said recently. “I mean, you are talking about a Cy Young Award finalist and an All-Star.
“He threw opening day for us last year and the first game of the playoffs. He pitched extremely well in the playoffs. I think it was one run in two starts. If you would’ve told us in 2023 that was going to happen, then we would be ecstatic.”
Now Ragans and the Royals will turn their focus to winning it all. Kansas City finished second in the AL Central last season and hopes to take the next step in 2025.
“Our end goal is to win a championship and bring a championship back to Kansas City,” Ragans said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 7:47 PM.
