Royals POSTCAST: Royals WIN, 8-4 | Cole Ragans LEADS Kansas City To Game One Win Against LA Angels

Royals POSTCAST: Royals WIN, 8-4 | Cole Ragans LEADS Kansas City To Game One Win Against LA Angels

[Music] This is the Royals Post Cast, your instant game reaction for the Kansas City Royals, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Royals post. I’m your host Chance Lebo here on a late late Tuesday evening. Royals picking up a 8 to five 8 to4 win over the LA Angels. I appreciate you for joining us here on the Locked Royals post. Don’t forget to like the page, subscribe to the channel, like the video, shoot your comments our way. If you are here live, boy, you are a real Royals fan. Royals are eliminated right now and they’re playing uh at 11 o’clock uh Central Standard Time on a work night. Uh I’m gonna get in here. I’m gonna get out of here pretty quickly. This is going to be a pretty short episode because I like many of you out there have work in the morning. So I’m going to uh make this a pretty quick episode because there’s not a whole lot to talk about from this one. It was a really impressive win for the Royals. One that I think bodess well heading into 2026. That’s going to be a lot of what we talk about here in this last week of episodes is just how these last weeks or so affect next season if they change our opinions on anybody or if they move the needle on any guys. Um, and today I think was about the guy that was on the mound, Cole Reagan, making his second start since returning from the injured list. And while he looked really good and crisp last Wednesday, Cole Reagan was really, really good today. I I was super impressed with Cole Reagan on the mound today. They stretched him out a little bit and until giving up a two-run homer in that fifth inning, Cole Reagan was about as good as it gets. And that will be the subject of what you’ll be talking about. This is what you’ll be talking about. Cole Reagan’s man uh today uh on what was it? 72 pitches, 10 strikeouts, one walk, three hits, a two-run homer, and that was it. And I get it, the Angels are not a team that is going to uh going to mistake anybody for a playoff team or a team that’s going to be a juggernaut. But listen, they’re paid to they’re paid just as much as the Royals are to try to win baseball games. Uh I know that, you know, Shane came in here in the chat and was fairly negative saying they’re going to beat a minor league team. I mean, a win’s a win. I get it. it doesn’t mean anything in the long in the scheme of things because they’re out of the playoff race, but I’d rather them look good in this game than look bad. Um, but I was really impressed by what we saw from Cole Reagan’s today. An Angels lineup that has been fairly pedestrian this season, but man, he just mowed them down all game long. The entire Royals pitching staff was really, really good. 13 strikeouts as a whole from the pitching staff. Um, I know that Sam Long did not have a good ninth inning, but since when has Sam Long had a clean ninth inning in his career, but Royals pick up a big win and Cole Reagan’s a big part of that. Let’s take a look at his baseball savant page because this is uh something that I like to do on here because uh it’s one of my favorite things to do about uh after a game. Cole Reagan’s after uh after a really good start and we had seen him really really do a good job in his first start about attacking guys with fast balls and this is a major tick up from where he’s been at throughout his career. I mean 42 fast balls, 58% fast balls. That’s a major tick up. Did not throw many sliders. That is not something we have seen from Cole Reagan’s much this season. Fast ball velocity was a bit down, but I don’t think that’s too uh too too big of an issue. Cutter 90% in the strike. That’s been a pitch that he’s struggled to get in the strike zone at times this season. Got some swing and miss. 50% swing and miss rate. I think that is about as good as you can ask for from Cole Reagan’s. I mean, we’ve talked about it too many times on this show. The Royals don’t have enough guys on the roster to get swing and miss stuff. they just don’t have enough guys that are able to create swing and miss stuff. Uh that is something that Cole Reagan brings to the table that we don’t see from guys in on the current pitching staff. That’s what encourages me. That’s what I feel really good about with Cole Reagan is he is against the norm of what we’ve seen from the rest of the guys that the Royals have gone through this season. Maybe you could say Chris Bubich is one of those guys you could get uh that you could get some kind of strikeout stuff from, but he’s too much like a Michael Waka where if one of those pitches isn’t good, then then he really just doesn’t have an arsenal whatsoever. So, a guy like Cole Reagan’s, while I I understand that some people might want to shut him down or not have seen him, I think this may be his last start, it would be a shock to me if he made a start on Sunday in Sacramento. But if this is his last start, he goes into next season as the unquestioned, unparalleled ace of this pitching staff because he has been the best pitcher on this pitching staff. And I know that he had a rough start to the season. If you just look at the raw numbers in terms of Ray was up, guys, he was one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball when he was healthy. He ran into the injury bug, had that shoulder injury, had a couple of other dings that kind of helped him held him on the injured list. But from Cole Reagan’s perspective, I mean, I think that while he was a bit of a question mark heading into next season as a guy or we don’t know what we’re going to get out of him, you know what you’re going to get out of him now. You’re going to get ace stuff out of Cole Reagan’s a re the reason uh you paid him what you did. It wasn’t much. But Cole Reagan is the unquestioned, undoubted ace of this staff and a guy that is going to be a big reason why the Royals are going to be a team that people pick to make a leap next season. the reason why Royals fans can feel confident going into potentially a playoff series next season because they will have in game one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball on the mound regardless of who they are facing. So, give credit. Carl Reagan was fantastic tonight. Angels, not a good team. I I really don’t care. I I didn’t really need to see I I didn’t need to see him do it against the the Monstars. I needed to see him do it in a live game with live bullets flying. Not a sim game, not a minor league rehab assignment. I need to see it on the big stage where the adrenaline’s real. The pitch count is real. Getting that familiarity. I believe it was uh uh it was Salvi behind the plate while Carter Jensen is probably still involved in the game planning. Still love that being invol still love that being a factor here for Cole Reagan. But very good outing from him tonight. He is a big reason why a lot of Royals fans have hope going into next season. Uh, and a big reason why they just weren’t able to have a great year this year because when you don’t have that guy that is a certified stopper like he has been this season, you get a a cratering out of sorts like you saw in June from the Royals. All right, when we come back, we’re going to talk about the offense because it was an everybody eats kind of day, an eg Rasheed Rice kind of day. Everybody got to eat. That was how the offense looked today. We’ll talk about that when we come back on the Royals postcast. 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For a limited time, Neutrifold is offering Locked on Royals listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you go to neutrfold.com and enter the promo code locked on MLB. That’s neutral.com’s promo code locked on MLB. Today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 if your bet wins. You get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel because it fits however you’d like to bet. Player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It makes every game even more interesting way whether you’re waiting, watching your team, or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right. Um, let’s talk about the offense. Uh, before we get to that, A and NB asking a question. Chance, uh, thinking about attending one of the next two games. Which one do we think would be more fun? Um, probably tomorrow’s game. Get an opportunity to see Stephen Kick in person. Um, I would say probably that’s where I would lean, but then again, I I don’t know what you uh what you like. Um, I don’t know what the ballpark is offering in Anaheim in terms of a promotional schedule. I would imagine that most of them do a uh a thirsty Thursday style of uh of you know, offering. So maybe you get some discounted beer if that’s something up your alley if you’re a younger folk that maybe isn’t of drinking age or if you don’t like to drink. Um I I think that maybe just look at the weather, see what that’s like in uh in Los Angeles. But um I I don’t know if uh Okay, sounded like it was a Mike Trout 400 home run poster tomorrow. Hey, that’s not a bad thing to have. Uh if you uh if you get that uh grab me one while you’re at it because that sounds uh pretty cool. Uh because yeah, promotional schedules are always something to take a look at when you’re heading to the uh to the ballpark. All right, let’s uh talk about the offense because the offense was really good tonight. Um everybody in the lineup got a hit. Uh three of the top four got multiple hits. Michael Garcia, pair of doubles. He’s going to finish with around 40 this season. Bobby Whit Jr. had a two RBI day. His batting average is up to 293. Salvi with a two for three day off of a week of not catching very much. I think this was uh this is probably the offensive lineup that is most resembled what we’re going to see next season. U maybe you’ll see Jack Kag I would assume you’ll see Jack Kagle Leone instead of Mike Estreky and maybe you see another outfielder, but Jack and I were actually talking about this today. What what of the rentals you think might come back? And I I really didn’t know which of any would come back. I know that Randall Grizzik is probably not a guy that comes back for 2026, but today one for five. Um, I know that it’s pretty, you know, it’s a not a great pitching staff you’re facing, but still. And Carter Jensen, I know he goes just he picks up just one hit, but a double, I I felt like Carter Jensen was in command at the plate. I mean, I I think that just his approach at the plate is one of the most impressive things about Carter Jensen. Jack Kaggleon looks like he’s pressing sometimes the plate, especially when he first came up, not so much now because the roles are out of the playoff hunt. He’s kind of just playing for fun right now. Um Carter Jensen just looks in complete control of the plate. I I think he struck out or had one earlier tonight where there just was not it was not a strike in the zone and Carter Jensen spits on it. It comes away as a and called a strike. Like Carter Jensen knows what pitches to chase and what pitch is not to chase. He is a very very good disciplined hitter. Something the Royals lack in this lineup. something that Vinnie Pascantino and MJ Melendez when they both came up were borderline I wouldn’t say borderline elite but they were really good at being professional hitters at the dish and then they continued to progress they continued to proh to try to become big league hitters and they kind of lost what made them as good as they were as rookies which was that patience and that ability to wait for your pitch tonight uh it it was Carter Jensen he was really good at the plate in terms of just commanding the strike zone And I thought that was the most uh impressive thing from Carter Jensen tonight. And just the rest of the lineup, John Rae even comes in and gets a a bunt hit as a pinch hitter. Um Tyler Tolbert got the start in center field and picked up a hit. Adam Frasier is has had a much better week after a really rough stretch of games there for a while. And I think the offense is uh something that, you know, it’s kind of tryyouts right now. It’s open season for 2026, especially for some of those rental guys like a Randall Gritic or a Mike Ystreky or Adam Frasier where you don’t know who who you need for for next season. They could go out and they could get some of those guys, but um I think that tonight’s game um is going to be a step in the positive direction for a lot of those guys that had come into the game slumping. All right, I appreciate you guys for being here with us tonight. I know it’s a late show. I know we went a little bit short compared to our usual 15 to 20 minute show, but I’m tired. I got work in the morning. I still got to upload all this stuff to the podcast page. So, appreciate you guys for sweating it out with us tonight. Um, you know, drink that sleepy time tea. And, uh, we will see you guys tomorrow. We’re back for another late night edition after dark edition of the Royals postcast right here on the Locked Ony podcast channel.

Chance Liebau reacts to game one between the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels. We discuss Cole Ragans outing, the middle of the lineup production, and what we’re looking for the rest of the series.

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