Kansas City Royals’ ace Cole Ragans is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

He’s been on the injured list with a groin issue. The Royals made the announcement on social media.

An All-Star in 2024, Ragans has gone 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA thus far. One of the best strikeout artists in the game, he’s fanned a whopping 72 batters in 45.2 innings. He’s pitched to a 1.204 WHIP in nine starts.

The 27-year-old is one of the best lefties in baseball, and he broke out in a big way last season, helping lead the Royals to the American League Division Series. He went 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA, striking out 223 in 186.1 innings.

Ragans came up with the Texas Rangers but was traded to the Royals in 2023 as part of the deal that sent Aroldis Chapman to Texas. They went onto win the World Series that season. Lifetime, he’s 20-20 with a 3.60 ERA.

At the big-league level, the Royals enter play on Friday at 30-27 and in fourth place in a crowded American League Central. They’ll take on the first-place Detroit Tigers on Friday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.

Right-hander Seth Lugo, also recently off the injured list, will pitch for Kansas City. He’s gone 3-4 this season with a 3.02 ERA.

Casey Mize, the former No. 1 overall pick in the draft, will pitch for Detroit. He’s out to a stellar 6-1 start with a 2.45 ERA.

Detroit is 37-20.

RISING UP THE RANKS: Max Clark is now the No. 2 prospect in baseball, according to Keith Law of the Athletic. CLICK HERE:

CORA PUSHING THE ENVELOPE? Red Sox manager Alex Cora spoke to local radio in Boston on Thursday about top prospect Roman Anthony, and it seems like he may be pushing the front office into promoting him. CLICK HERE:

ISABELLA! Isabella Robb umpired a game at Double-A Springfield this week, marking the first time a female umpire had worked at Hammons Field, which has been open for 20 years. CLICK HERE:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – It has been five years since the killing of George Floyd, a moment that ignited nationwide protests and renewed demands for racial justice and police reform. In Kansas City, some protestors feel their calls for justice remain unanswered.

At Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza, where demonstrations erupted in May 2020, community members gathered to reflect on the progress made and the work that remains.

Demonstrators recall scenes of chaos that unfolded during the protests. People recall shielding their eyes from tear gas, seeing water bottles thrown, and people getting trampled in the crowd.

“That situation that day, man, it changed the look of America,” said Pat Clarke, a longtime community outreach advocate who was on the ground trying to de-escalate tensions.

Eric Morrison, senior pastor at Kingdom Word Ministries, said what he witnessed shows how cries for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death reached a tipping point in Kansas City.

“When you see something like that happen to a person, and knowing this country’s history, you recognize a breaking point,” Morrison said. “As a 62-year-old Black man, it’s the repetitiveness of it. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it again.”

Now, five years later, questions remain whether the city has truly seen progress.

Despite the passage of time, many activists say their calls for justice remain unanswered.

“It still hasn’t changed for me,” said Morrison, “until we see policies being implemented, when we see police officers that have been in these places abusing people white, black or whatever, and they’re still on the force, and they’re being suspended with pay… until that goes away, until they are literally charged with a crime, then it’s there and it’ll be there,” he said.

Since 2020, city leaders say some reforms have been made. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas pointed to new transparency efforts, including more opportunities for public comment during Board of Police Commissioners meetings and shifting officer-involved shooting investigations to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“Often, rioting is the voice of the unheard,” Lucas said. “A lot of people felt unheard in the system and the process. Hopefully, after all these years, people feel more heard.”

According to a KCPD spokesperson, 2020 also marked the rollout of body cameras for officers and updated use-of-force training. Chief Graves implemented ICAT training for our law enforcement members, which stands for Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics. KCPD describes it as an ‘innovative and evidence-based approach’ to use-of-force training.

Clarke said it’s hard to tell where change is headed.

“I’d say it’s changing,” he said. “But in what direction? I can’t tell you.”

He has had ongoing conversations with local police about what police reform could look like, even proposing the idea of sensitivity training.

“There’s a lot of officers who come in that’s never dealt with a community like this before,” said Clarke, “They didn’t grow up in one.”

Activists say the next step forward must involve community unity and legislative action.

“Things have to change in that way because behind the blue wall is freedom.”

Meanwhile, city leaders say the work for justice continues.

“It’s making sure that when we talk about Black people — in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas, and America — that we’re actually standing up for victims in more situations,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “On the accountability side, including with policing and the city more broadly, it is making sure that we’re not only paying high legal settlements — which we do — but also making sure that we’re finding ways to not be in those settlements at all. That we’re doing the training necessary to not get in those situations.”

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On Wednesday, highly touted defensive tackle Alister Vallejo announced he would be making his college decision on June 10 between the Kansas Jayhawks, Michigan Wolverines, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

A powerful 6-foot-3, 310-pound star, Vallejo is one of the best interior linemen in his graduating year. 247 Sports ranks him the No. 203 overall player and No. 32 defensive lineman in the Class of 2026.

He is an incoming senior at Liberty Hill High School in Texas, where he totaled 51 tackles, seven sacks, and nine tackles for loss last year, according to MaxPreps.

Lance Leipold will have to compete with two of the best football programs in the country in the race to acquire Vallejo.

Perhaps the biggest competition KU faces is Notre Dame, as he is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to the campus next week.

Following that trip, Vallejo will officially visit Kansas starting June 6. He previously met with the coaching staff in Lawrence in March.

The Jayhawks have been involved in Vallejo’s recruitment for quite some time, becoming just the second FBS school to offer him a scholarship this past January.

Some encouraging news is that his visit to Kansas will be his last before his college decision on June 10.

In what has been an incredible 2026 recruiting class for KU, Vallejo would be the latest impressive commitment if Leipold and Co. could land him.