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2023 Player Outlook

2023 Recap: Cole Ragans failed to impress in his debut season of 2022 as the young lefty went 0-3 with a 4.95 ERA/1.48 WHIP and only had 27 strikeouts in 40 innings over nine starts for the Rangers. Ragans was one of the best stories of 2023 though, as the pitcher who started the year with a 5.92 ERA in 17 relief appearances with Texas, proceeded to break out after a trade to the Royals (for Aroldis Chapman). When he came to Kansas City, he immediately morphed into a dominant starter, compiling a 2.64 ERA over 12 starts with 89 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. 

2024 Outlook: This is a pitcher that only averaged 92 mph on his fastball in 2022, but increased his velocity to 96 mph in 2023—maxing out at 101 mph. After the trade, Ragans picked up a slider and now his best pitches are his off-speed offerings – a changeup, slider and cutter and it is hard to dispute that Ragans was the best pitcher the Royals had in 2023. Now Ragans has only pitched 12 times for the Royals and only 26 times in parts of two seasons, so it is still a small sample size but for now he's certainly off to a good start to a major league career.