Kansas City Royals: The Top 5 Pitchers in Royals History

5. Dennis Leonard

First off, we have Dennis Leonard.

Dennis Leonard takes the fifth spot on our list. Leonard was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 2nd round of the 1972 MLB Draft. He remained in Kansas City and played his entire career with the Royals. Though the latter part of his career was riddled with injuries which caused him to retire, Dennis Leonard proved himself as a big part of the Royals pitching staff from the very beginning of his career, boasting a 15-7 record in his first full year as a starter.

He went on to have three 20 win seasons in his time with Kansas City, becoming the only member of the Royals to do so. Plus, Dennis Leonard was also the AL wins leader in ’77. Leonard only had two seasons in his career where he finished with a losing record (1974 and 1986). He also led the league in shutouts in the 1979 season with five.

Leonard was never named to an All-Star team, but he did finish 4th for the Cy-Young in 1977 and 7th in 1978. Leonard retired after the 1986 season due to injuries and he was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1989.

On the list of top five pitchers in Kansas City Royals history, Dennis Leonard falls in the five spot. The right hander out of Iona College in New Rochelle, New York yielded a career ERA of 3.70, pitching a total of 2187.0 innings throughout his 12 year career with the Kansas City Royals. In addition, his name remains on several top ten lists within the Royals organization.

Rankings in Royals Top 10 Career Pitching Leaders:

1st: Complete Games, Shutouts

2nd: Wins

3rd: Innings Pitched, Strikeouts, Starts, Batters Faced

5th: WAR for pitchers

6th: Win/Loss  %

7th: Games Played

8th: BB/9

9th: WHIP