Cole Ragans has been the major-league strikeout leader in the early weeks of the season. The Kansas City Royals’ left-hander will look to deliver another overpowering performance at the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.

Ragans has notched double-digit strikeouts in his last three starts, racking up 34 in his four starts. Just as impressive is that he has allowed just one earned run in each of his three April starts and hasn’t issued a walk in his last two outings.

Ragans (1-0, 2.28 ERA) lasted 7 2/3 innings on Sunday and allowed just four hits against Cleveland. First-pitch strikes were the key to his performance. He threw 18 against the 26 batters he faced.

“If I get ahead, I’m in the driver’s seat,” Ragans said. “Doesn’t matter who it is. It’s just the mentality of strike one, strike one, strike one.”

The strikeout totals aren’t a big surprise. He had 223 last season, ranking fifth in the majors, in 186 1/3 innings. He issued 67 walks — his focus entering this season to reduce that number.

“That was a big thing this offseason — simplify things and get ahead, cut down the walks,” Ragans said. “That’s all I’m trying to do is get ahead. If I make a mistake here or there, I might get an unbalanced swing because I’ve gotten ahead of the guy. So it’s just continuing to get ahead of guys and put them on the defensive.”

He’s seeing a lot of defensive swings. Kevin Appier (1996) is the only other pitcher in Royals history to have three consecutive outings with 10 or more strikeouts.

“When (Ragans is) on, he knows he can beat people in the zone,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “And that’s what the best of the best do.”

Ragans is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in five career outings against the Tigers.

He’ll be opposed by Jackson Jobe (1-0, 3.00), who collected his first major-league victory in his last start. Jobe tossed six scoreless innings against Minnesota on Saturday, limiting the Twins to two hits.

Jobe buckled down after he allowed a walk and a single to the first two batters.

“After the first inning, I just told myself to be in the zone,” the rookie right-hander said. “I got ahead of a few guys early and it led to three-ball counts. I just committed to throwing strikes and not chasing strikeouts.”

Jobe’s arsenal — four-seamers, sliders, changeups, sinkers and curveballs — made him one of the premier prospects in the game. He used all of his pitches to collect the win.

“He threw everything, which is how he’s going to pitch,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Sometimes I think maybe he has too many pitches to play with, but he doesn’t. He needs all of them against different styles of hitters, and he has the ability to mix when he needs to.”

The Tigers won the first game of the series on Thursday, 6-1. Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene drove in five of Detroit’s runs.

The Royals lost their fourth straight. Kansas City has scored just seven runs during that slide.

–Field Level Media