Ragans feels 'in a better place' after exiting with groin strain

KANSAS CITY -- Royals ace Cole Ragans has a “very mild left groin strain,” per manager Matt Quatraro. The left-hander was removed after just three innings (62 pitches) in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Thursday with what was described at the time as groin tightness.

Ragans’ strain diagnosis was announced prior to Friday’s game against the Astros at Kauffman Stadium after he underwent an MRI exam earlier that morning to determine severity. Both Ragans and Quatraro were non-committal when asked if Ragans would be able to make his next start, which would be slated after Monday’s off-day on the road against Tampa Bay.

“Day to day right now. We will see what happens,” Ragans said. “Come in tomorrow and get some more treatment, and go from there.

“I feel like I am in a better place today than I was yesterday. I’ve been getting treatment done. Definitely a little looser than it was yesterday and even this morning. Trending in the right direction. I don’t know what led to it, it just kind of tightened up on me.”

Ragans said he could feel the tightness while warming up in the bullpen on Thursday, but thought it might go away once he moved around and built adrenaline during his start. Once it did not, he alerted the Royals’ staff. Ragans has also dealt with cramps in his career, most recently during a start in Cleveland on April 13 when he tossed a career-high 7 2/3 frames before taking himself out. But he said this injury was different.

“It doesn’t feel like a cramp,” Ragans said. “Just felt stiff, tightness in there. I didn’t know if it would maybe loosen up throughout the outing, but it didn’t.

Quatraro added: “ ... That’s why we are trying to be proactive and get him out of there after three and see if we can calm it down a little. But he feels much better today than he did yesterday, so we are not concerned that it is any sort of chain reaction or anything like that [from the cramps].”

Ragans, who has now allowed nine earned runs in his past seven innings, said the tightness was impacting his command on breaking balls. He allowed two home runs against the Rockies in three innings on Thursday despite allowing just two homers in his previous 27 2/3 frames (five starts).

While Quatraro said he believes this injury is “something we think we will be able to manage,” the Royals are still uncertain if Ragans, who leads the American League in strikeouts (46), will be able to make his next start. Ragans said he felt the tightness while throwing on Thursday, but not when he walked on Friday.

In the meantime, Kansas City made a roster move prior to the opener against Houston by recalling Jonathan Bowlan from Triple-A Omaha. Lefty Evan Sisk, who struck out five across two scoreless appearances (2 1/3 frames) for the Royals, was optioned to Triple-A.

Bowlan is a former starter who has transitioned into a reliever for the Storm Chasers this season. He has struck out 12 across 12 innings (eight games) with a 3.00 ERA.

“Sisk did a good job when he was here,” Quatraro said. “The Astros are obviously very right-handed. We think this is a good opportunity for Bowlan. We do want to see what he can do as well, but for these next couple of series we thought this was more beneficial for us.”

Also notable for Friday’s opener was the absence of Salvador Perez from the lineup for the first time this season. The Royals’ captain, who appeared in 158 games last season, went a combined 5-for-8 at the plate in the doubleheader on Thursday, which included four doubles -- and a broken belt.

Quatraro said it was normal rest for the 34-year-old catcher.

“He ran the bases a lot yesterday, which was good for him and good for us, but he’s fully available,” Quatraro said. “It’s hard to get him out of there, but we got to find some times to do it.”