Royals' Cole Ragans optimistic after early exit against Guardians originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Cole Ragans start to the season could have gotten off to a better start, as he hasnt had the best performances from the mound in his opening three starts of the year. His first start would come against the Atlanta Braves, who shelled three home runs off the 28-year-old, with his day coming to a close after four innings.Ragans second outing would see him go further into the game, as hed make it through six innings, allowing four hits and one run, which would still net him the loss on the day, bringing his record to 0-2.pic.twitter.com/k7qqdgR4KK Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) April 8, 2026Wednesday afternoon would see his third start of the season, in which hed only make it through 0.2 innings, as he was pulled early on in the game after getting hit by a line drive from Jose Ramirez.How is Ragans feeling?While the Royals havent stated anything publicly following Wednesdays loss, Ragans spoke with reporters, in which he feels that he should be good, as reported by MLB.coms Anne Rogers.All things considered, sounds like #Royals avoided the worst with Cole Ragans thumb contusion. Just was too stiff for him to keep going in that game. But, he says, he should be good. Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) April 8, 2026If Ragans is to miss time, it would prevent Ragans from getting more opportunities to improve his standing in the Royals rotation this season.His 5.91 ERA is miles above where he has been over the last few seasons with Kansas City, as he posted a 2.50 ERA in 2025 and a 2.99 ERA in the 2024 campaign, when he was an All-Star and received the fourth-most votes for the American Leagues Cy Young award.More MLB news:Braves predicted to trade Bryce Elder for Lars NootbaarJacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his careerThree ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young AwardGiancarlo Stanton has an absurd 2-for-4 streak going on for YankeesMets didnt want to trade Brett Baty while White Sox didnt want Mark Vientos in Luis Robert Jr. tradeHow Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto is connected to Rockies' Tomoyuki SuganoRed Sox never close on Astros Isaac Paredes tradeShohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece