Kansas City Royals Top Ten Pitchers in Franchise History

By David Hill | Dec 7, 2015

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Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

10. Dick Drago

Dick Drago had a number of interesting moments throughout his career. He allowed the final home run that Hank Aaron hit in his illustrious career. Drago once pitched a complete game, and faced only 13 batters in doing so, done in by a Frank Robinson home run in the first inning. His career was definitely interesting.

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Drago was also a part of the first Kansas City Royals squad, selected with the 31st pick in the expansion draft. While he would transition to the bullpen later in his career, Drago was mainly a starter in Kansas City, making all but 22 of his appearances in the rotation. Drago also holds the distinction of being the first member of the Royals to receive a vote for the Cy Young award, which he earned in 1971.

Overall for the Royals, Drago posted a 61-70 record with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.298 WHiP. He struck out 577 batters in 1134 innings, while recording 53 complete games and ten shutouts in his five years with the Royals. Drago is also eighth all time with a 16.6 WAR for Kansas City, showing his value even though his numbers are not quite what one would expect from a top pitcher in team history.

One of the original members of the Kansas City Royals, Dick Drago had a memorable career. Despite the lack of counting statistics, Drago was one of the first solid pitchers that the Royals had in their rotation.

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