Royals starter Cole Ragans takes AL Pitcher of the Month honors

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - When the Royals sent arguably their top trade piece to the Texas Rangers, they probably weren’t expecting immediate returns from a southpaw twice recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Meet, Cole Ragans — the American League Pitcher of the Month.

Acquired for reliever Aroldis Chapman, Ragans was straight dominant in the month of August. He finished with a 3-1 record over six starts, punched out 53 batters and posted a 1.72 ERA.

Cole Ragans: 3-1, 1.72 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 53 Ks
Freddy Peralta: 5-0, 2.10 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 46 Ks

Your AL and NL Pitchers of the Month for August! pic.twitter.com/QqxrVIsTIb
— MLB (@MLB) September 3, 2023

Ragans ranks second in team history for most strikeouts in a single month (Dennis Leonard struck out 55 in June 1977).

The honor marks the first time a Royals pitcher won AL Pitcher of the Month since Zack Greinke earned the award for April 2009.

According to the team, Ragans is only the third Royals left-handed pitcher to earn league monthly honors (Charlie Leibrandt - April/September 1985, Larry Gura - July 1980/September 1981.

The Royals also acquired 17-year-old outfielder Roni Cabrera in the Chapman trade.