Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. fires up the dugout after hitting a double during the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium on Apr 8, 2025|Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

There wasn’t a whole lot Royals starter Cole Ragans couldn’t do tonight. Ragans looked masterful on Tuesday night, looking every bit of the Cy Young finalist from 2024. He’s looked good to start the year minus the few hiccups he battled with in his first two starts. He’s battled issues with command early in the season, and still turned in a respectable 3.60 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings.

But his outing on Tuesday was exactly what Royals fans have been waiting for. He was straight up masterful against the Twins having the best outing of his season.

The Royals ace went six and tossed 11 strikeouts tonight and walked absolutely no one. His 24 total strikeouts place him fifth in the Major Leagues and he’s only walked four in 16 innings. Ragans is only the second Royals lefty to strike out 10 or more batters in consecutive starts.

His changeup was really working for him tonight and he went to it early and often. He threw 21 of them and got a ridiculous 82% whiff rate on it. It seemed like he made an adjustment to his arsenal from his previous start. He threw nine less fastballs than his last start but five more changeups. He struck out four with his changeup (4) which was a season high.

This was a very positive sign for Ragans as he looks like he is completely dialed in. If the top of the rotation can continue to string together quality starts like this, we could be in store for a nice lengthy winning streak.

Bobby was a difference maker tonight with his speed. It’s unbelievable to see how nervous he makes the opposing team. It feels like players would rather Bob hit it in the air than on the ground.

The Royals will have to continue to manufacture runs like this while the offense is finding its groove. They’ve scored 1 run or less in 27% of their games this season. That’s not great, but with Bobby Witt Jr and Vinnie Pasquantino back-to-back in the lineup, they will find a way to stack RBIs. Combine that with their pitching staff and the Royals have a legitimate chance to win every game we play.

The Royals (6-5) move to above .500 for the first time this season and will shift their focus to Joe Ryan (0-1 4.50 ERA).