On a weekend in which the 25-20 Royals will honor their past, their present and future takes the mound. Cole Ragans gets the start in the first game against the cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals (24-20).
Ragans is coming off a few short starts in a row; he has not exceeded five innings since April 13th against Cleveland, when he went 7 and 2⁄3 innings. However, Ragans continues to strike out opposing batters at a blistering pace. He’s running a 38% strikeout rate, which is #1 among starters with 40+ innings. Hell there are only a handful of relievers who strike out batters more frequently.