Kansas City Royals: Top 15 Pitchers In Losses All-Time

Win/Loss records don’t always paint a true reflection of a pitcher’s worth. What Kansas City Royals greats made this not so distinguished list?

First of all, it’s important to preface this list with the following statement: Almost none of the pitchers on this list were bad pitchers. In fact, most of them could be considered Royals’ greats and many of them are.

Losses are such an unfair statistic to hold against the pitcher. Whether or not a ‘W’ or an ‘L’ is penciled into the box score has so much to do with the defense and the offense.

In the American League especially, the pitcher has even less ability to help the offense win the game. Cheerleading will only take them so far.

Let’s use 2013 of an example of just how bad of a statistic wins/losses is. In 2013, James Shields and Ervin Santana combined for 50 quality starts. That’s a start that sees the pitcher go at least six innings and allowing no more than three earned runs.

Of those 50 quality starts, the Royals wound up losing 11 of those games. The pitcher on record for those losses were Shields and Santana. More than 20 percent of their quality starts saw an ‘L’ in the win/loss column. Need more proof that wins/losses doesn’t mean much?

For further proof, let’s look at Drew Hutchison‘s stats in 2015. Hutchinson had nine quality starts with a 5.57 ERA. His record at the end of the year was 13-5. In 2013, James Shields had 27 quality starts with nearly eighty more innings pitched than Hutchison’s 2015. That along with his 3.15 ERA earned him a record of 13-9.

Analysis: There is no way to fully quantify how good a pitcher is based on his win/loss record. Perhaps looking at the Royals’ all-time leaders in losses will further prove that losses don’t always equate to a bad pitcher.

Next: The Full Monty