Kansas City Royals All-Time Worst 25 Man Roster

Oct 28, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals fans hold up large cut-out heads of Royals players in game two of the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Ricky Bottalico – Set Up Man

Ricky Bottalico pitched one season for the KC Royals in 2000. His 4.83 ERA in 72.2 innings with a 9-6 record really wasn’t all that bad for that high run scoring era. So why is he on this list?

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Ricky Bottalico was signed to be the Kansas City Royals closer, and in that role, he was truly awful. Bottalico earned 16 saves against in 23 chances for a 70% conversion percentage—for a guy that typically came into the game to get the final three outs.

Yeah. HDH he was not.

Bottalico’s biggest problem was that he couldn’t find home plate. Ricky Bottalico walked an absurd 5.1 hitters per nine innings in 2000. The reason Bottalico ended up with nine wins as a closer was the number of leads he blew in the ninth inning. The 2000 KC Royals featured a robust young offense that regularly pulled off comeback victories to bail out their “closer”.

Next: His Baseball Career Was A Criminal Offense