Ragans wasn’t able to make his scheduled start Wednesday after leaving his last outing with a groin strain that has been described as ‘mild’, but the Royals have kept the southpaw off the injured list because they believe he can return in the coming days. The 27-year-old may need to throw a couple of bullpens to make sure all is well, but he does appear to have avoided a significant injury.

Royals manager Quatraro added that top pitching prospect Noah Cameron, who holds a strong 3.22 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 27/8 K/BB ratio across 22 1/3 innings (five starts) this season for Triple-A Omaha, will be called up to take the ball in his place. It sounds like the Royals simply want to give their ace a few extra days to recover following an early exit from last Thursday’s start with a mild left groin strain, but we can’t definitively rule out the possibility of an injured list stint. It’s a tough matchup, but there’s definitely some streaming appeal with Cameron in deeper fantasy formats.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro and Ragans were noncommittal on Friday when asked if he would make his next start. The positive takeaway here for fantasy managers is that the 27-year-old fantasy ace has been diagnosed with a “very mild” left groin strain after undergoing a precautionary MRI following an early exit from last Thursday’s start against the Rockies. It doesn’t seem like he’ll require a trip to the injured list, but he’s likely going to have his next start pushed back to later this week.

The left-hander will continue to undergo treatment and will be watched over the next few days, but it sounds like he’s going to be able to avoid a trip to the injured list. The question now, is whether or not he’ll be ready in time to take the ball as scheduled on Tuesday against the Rays.