Kansas City Royals Best Single Seasons

In: Best Single Seasons By Franchise, Teams

These are the greatest individual seasons in Kansas City Royals history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Darrell Porter – 1979

    Darrell Porter Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.6 144 157 679 533 101 155 23 10 20 112 121 65 3 4 .291 .421 .484 .905

    • First Base

  • John Mayberry – 1975

    John Mayberry Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 166 156 683 554 95 161 38 1 34 106 119 73 5 3 .291 .416 .547 .963

    • Second Base

  • Jose Offerman – 1998

    Jose Offerman Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    5.3 121 158 709 607 102 191 28 13 7 66 89 96 45 12 .315 .403 .438 .841

    • Third Base

  • George Brett – 1980HOFMVP

    George Brett Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.4 198 117 515 449 87 175 33 9 24 118 58 22 15 6 .390 .454 .664 1.118

    • Shortstop

  • Bobby Witt Jr. – 2024

    Bobby Witt Jr. Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.4 169 161 709 636 125 211 45 11 32 109 57 106 31 12 .332 .389 .588 .977

    • Outfield

  • Amos Otis – 1978

    Amos Otis Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.4 150 141 567 486 74 145 30 7 22 96 66 54 32 8 .298 .380 .525 .905

    • Outfield

  • Alex Gordon – 2011

    Alex Gordon Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.3 140 151 690 611 101 185 45 4 23 87 67 139 17 8 .303 .376 .502 .879

    • Outfield

  • Danny Tartabull – 1991

    Danny Tartabull Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    4.4 168 132 557 484 78 153 35 3 31 100 65 121 6 3 .316 .397 .593 .990

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Zack Greinke – 2009Cy Young

    Zack Greinke Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    10.4 48 33 33 16 8 2.16 229.1 6 3 0 64 55 51 242 26.4% 1.07

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Bret Saberhagen – 1989Cy Young

    Bret Saberhagen Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.7 56 36 35 23 6 2.16 262.1 12 4 0 74 63 43 193 18.9% 0.96

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Kevin Appier – 1993

    Kevin Appier Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.3 58 34 34 18 8 2.56 238.2 5 1 0 74 68 81 186 19.5% 1.11

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Kevin Appier – 1992

    Kevin Appier Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.0 61 30 30 15 8 2.46 208.1 3 0 0 59 57 68 150 17.6% 1.13

    • Starting Pitcher

  • David Cone – 1994Cy Young

    David Cone Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.9 60 23 23 16 5 2.94 171.2 4 3 0 60 56 54 132 19.1% 1.07

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Wade Davis – 2015

    Wade Davis Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.5 23 69 0 8 1 0.94 67.1 0 0 17 8 7 20 78 31.1% 0.79

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Wade Davis – 2014

    Wade Davis Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.8 26 71 0 9 2 1.00 72 0 0 3 8 8 23 109 39.1% 0.85

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Jeff Montgomery – 1989

    Jeff Montgomery Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.6 35 63 0 7 3 1.37 92 0 0 18 16 14 25 94 25.9% 0.99

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Salvador Perez, 2021
  • First Base – John Mayberry, 1972
  • Second Base – Whit Merrifield, 2018
  • Third Base – George Brett, 1985
  • Shortstop – Bobby Witt Jr., 2025
  • Outfield – Willie Wilson, 1980
  • Outfield – Lorenzo Cain, 2015
  • Outfield – Carlos Beltran, 2003
  • Starting Pitcher – Mark Gubicza, 1988
  • Starting Pitcher – Bret Saberhagen, 1987
  • Starting Pitcher – Bret Saberhagen, 1985
  • Starting Pitcher – Charlie Leibrandt, 1985
  • Starting Pitcher – David Cone, 1993
  • Relief Pitcher – Dan Quisenberry, 1983
  • Relief Pitcher – Greg Holland, 2013

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *