The KC Royals franchise records that will NEVER be broken

Don't forget about the pitchers

Brett and Wilson don't own the whole Royals' record book, of course. The Royals have sent several iconic pitchers to the mound, and many of them look to be cemented in the Royals' record book for a long time to come. The names will be quite familiar to Royals fans.

Steve Busby threw two no-hitters for the Royals. This particular record may not jump off the page, but setting aside the fact that no-hitters are incredibly difficult to pull off in general, it should be pointed out that, despite their once-storied pitching history, the Royals have only thrown a total of four no-hitters in their entire 55-year history. The last of which was thrown by Bret Saberhagen in 1991. To put that in perspective, the Astros added their 17th all-time no-hitter earlier this season.

Saberhagen owns the single-season win record for the Royals, picking up 23 during his second Cy Young season in 1989. Pitchers' win-loss records have been devalued in modern baseball, and as bullpens are increasingly prioritized, win totals continue to decrease. Perhaps Cole Ragans makes the jump to true ace and bucks the odds, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Even rarer now than a 20-game winner are complete games. Dennis Leonard threw 103 of them in his career, and no one is touching that. He threw 21 in 1977 alone, a record I'd bet my left hand will also never be broken. He posted 23 career shutouts. The entire 2024 starting rotation will probably not throw 23 complete games combined in their respective careers, let alone 23 shutouts.

With the modern emphasis on the bullpen, saves are a dicier proposition. On the other hand, many closers have relatively short shelf lives. What does that mean? It means Greg Holland's single-season save record (47 in 2013) is a lot more vulnerable than Jeff Montgomery's career mark of 304. Holland was dominant in the HDH era, but he never seriously threatened Montgomery's mark, finishing with 220 saves in 12 seasons. And only 159 of those were in a Royals uniform. So while a new closer might threaten Holland with a single spectacular season, it's unlikely they'll be able to maintain it long enough to make a run at Montgomery, who ranks 28th in all-time saves.