This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

KANSAS CITY -- In October 2013, Cole Ragans was a sophomore at North Florida Christian High School in Tallahassee, Fla., and he obsessed with talking about baseball with his friends. So when a rookie Cardinals pitcher named Michael Wacha threw 7 1/3 one-hit innings against the Pirates in Game 4 of the 2013 National League Division Series, Ragans spent the entire next day of school talking about the performance.

Eleven years later, Ragans is in the same rotation as Wacha -- and eyeing a postseason run with the Royals. During the first week of the 2024 season, a high school friend of Ragans messaged him to remind him about those days.

“How crazy it is that we were sitting in science class in 2013 talking about Michael Wacha, and now you’re teammates with him?” the message read.

Ragans added: “It just goes to show you how good he is. How good he’s been. To still be playing in the big leagues 11 years later and having an unbelievable season, it goes to show the hard work and process.”

The Royals’ 2024 turnaround has happened because of a lot of reasons, but none as massive as the difference in the rotation. Ragans is a budding ace. Brady Singer is building a nice bounceback campaign after a disappointing ‘23 season. Seth Lugo looks like one of the best free-agent signings of the offseason.

And Wacha has arguably been the steadiest of them all, especially lately.

The 32-year-old righty has a 3.32 ERA in 23 starts this year, his first year as a Royal after signing a one-year deal with a player option for 2025. But in his past 16 starts since May 9, he’s 10-2 with a 2.45 ERA -- having allowed just three earned runs or fewer in each of those starts. In 10 starts since his last loss on June 22, Wacha is 7-0 with a 2.40 ERA, and the Royals are 9-1 in that stretch.

“I think just evaluating the positives and negatives and just really trying to keep building off each start,” Wacha said of his consistency. “Just keep trending in that right direction. The main thing is keep building, never being satisfied with where you’re at and always getting better.”

On Friday, Wacha allowed two runs in six innings to a tough Phillies lineup, earning his 11th win of the year and bringing him one win shy of 100 in his career. No stranger to big crowds in big moments, Wacha felt the adrenaline and hit 97 mph on a first-inning sinker to Bryce Harper, his fastest pitch since the start of 2022.

“Body’s just feeling good right now,” Wacha said. “I think I had some extra energy from the crowd.”

Wacha is quick to point out that as much as he’s embraced being the veteran leader the Royals wanted when they signed him, he’s learning just as much from his young teammates. Wacha introduced a slider this season after years of tinkering with the pitch, and he’s talked extensively about it with Ragans, who learned to throw a slider in 2023.

Changeups always come up in those conversations. Wacha’s is “one of the best in the game,” catcher Salvador Perez said.

“Our changeups are different, but our thought processes are the same,” Ragans said. “How he thinks about using his, when to use it, how to use it, I’ve learned a lot. And just watching him throw it, sometimes it’s straight but it looks like it has a parachute on it, so they’re still out in front of it. Or they’ll take it because they’re expecting it to move. And then they’ll say, ‘Well, the last one was straight,’ but the next one just drops down and they swing over it.

“I’ve never seen a changeup like it.”

Wacha’s leadership in the clubhouse has been felt in every corner. But his performance on the field has been just as impactful.

“He puts a lot of work into it,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You don't get there by accident. He’s got a great delivery. He understands how his pitches work. He’s still striving to learn things. … The days he’s not pitching, he is completely into every pitch in [the dugout]. That’s contagious.”