The Baseball Scholar

The 20 Greatest Kansas City Royals of All-Time

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

Rankings based on seasons 1901 – 2025.

To be eligible, position players need 1,500 plate appearances, starting pitchers have to have started a minimum of 75 games, and relief pitchers need to have 150 innings pitched for the franchise.

  1. George BrettHOFMVP

    George Brett Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    88.6 132 2707 11624 10349 1583 3154 665 137 317 1596 201 97 1096 908 .304 .368 .487 .855

  2. Kevin Appier

    Kevin Appier Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    47.1 77 287 275 115 92 3.49 1840.4 32 10 0 771 714 634 1458 19.0% 1.25

  3. Bret Saberhagen2x Cy Young

    Bret Saberhagen Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    40.7 78 252 226 110 78 3.22 1658.7 64 14 1 650 593 331 1093 16.3% 1.13

  4. Amos Otis

    Amos Otis Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    44.8 118 1891 7970 7050 1074 1977 365 65 193 992 340 89 739 954 .280 .347 .433 .780

  5. Mark Gubicza

    Mark Gubicza Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    38 91 382 327 132 135 3.92 2216 42 16 2 1050 965 783 1366 14.4% 1.36

  6. Willie Wilson

    Willie Wilson Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    42.4 95 1787 7302 6799 1059 1968 241 133 40 509 612 119 360 990 .289 .329 .382 .711

  7. Alex Gordon

    Alex Gordon Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    34.9 102 1753 7250 6391 867 1643 357 26 190 749 113 45 684 1535 .257 .338 .410 .748

  8. Zack GreinkeCy Young

    Zack Greinke Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    29.7 89 266 222 66 91 3.93 1386.4 12 3 1 656 606 330 1101 18.9% 1.27

  9. Bobby Witt Jr.Active

    Bobby Witt Jr. Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    21.7 129 626 2722 2491 403 722 151 34 105 373 148 43 176 487 .290 .340 .504 .844

  10. Dan Quisenberry

    Dan Quisenberry Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    25.3 63 573 0 51 44 2.57 918.7 0 0 238 294 262 139 321 8.6% 1.15

  11. John Mayberry

    John Mayberry Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    21.4 133 897 3753 3131 459 816 139 10 143 552 16 11 561 457 .261 .374 .448 .822

  12. Hal McRae

    Hal McRae Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    27.6 125 1837 7362 6568 873 1924 449 63 169 1012 105 73 616 697 .293 .356 .458 .814

  13. Carlos BeltranRookie of the Year

    Carlos Beltran Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    24.8 110 795 3512 3134 546 899 156 45 123 516 164 23 316 584 .287 .352 .483 .835

  14. Charlie Leibrandt

    Charlie Leibrandt Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    22.9 87 194 187 76 61 3.61 1255.6 34 10 0 563 503 359 618 11.6% 1.32

  15. Lorenzo Cain

    Lorenzo Cain Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    24.6 107 713 2894 2646 383 765 140 21 56 308 120 24 195 540 .289 .342 .421 .763

  16. Salvador PerezActive

    Salvador Perez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    35.5 103 1707 6904 6477 710 1712 320 11 303 1016 6 1 271 1303 .264 .301 .457 .759

  17. Mike Sweeney

    Mike Sweeney Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    23.3 118 1282 5278 4669 700 1398 297 5 197 837 50 25 484 555 .299 .369 .492 .861

  18. Jeff Montgomery

    Jeff Montgomery Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    20.9 71 686 0 44 50 3.21 846.3 0 0 304 332 302 287 720 20.3% 1.24

  19. Dennis Leonard

    Dennis Leonard Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    25.7 93 312 302 144 106 3.70 2184.2 103 23 1 1008 898 622 1323 14.5% 1.26

  20. Danny Tartabull

    Danny Tartabull Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    12.8 145 657 2684 2327 348 674 141 9 124 425 28 15 325 592 .290 .376 .518 .894

    21. The Next 5

  21. 21. Darrell Porter
  22. 22. Joakim Soria
  23. 23. Kevin Seitzer
  24. 24. Larry Gura
  25. 25. Frank White

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

    One response to “The 20 Greatest Kansas City Royals of All-Time”

    1. Joseph Genovese Avatar
      Joseph Genovese

      Lorenzo Cain over “The Quiz”?

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    100 Greatest Players of all time