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

Kansas City Royals All-Time Loss Leaders – Number 3: Dennis Leonard (106 Losses)

Dennis Leonard is one of the most durable pitchers in Royals’ history. That’s somewhat hard to believe given his trouble with injuries later in his career.

From 1975 through 1981 Leonard pitcher more than 200 innings per year. He averaged almost 255 innings per season during that stretch. Last year’s innings leader was Clayton Kershaw with 232.2 innings.

Leonard also won 20 games or more for the Royals on three separate occasions. No other Royals’ player has accomplished that feat.

He averaged a shutout in 8.5 percent of his starts. That’s a complete game shutout in almost every ten starts.

In spite of those accomplishments he was never selected for an All-Star game. He was a prominent member of the Royals during their 1976-1978 teams that saw the Royals and Yankees duke it out for three straight seasons.

In his career, Leonard was 144-106 in the win/loss column. The wins were good enough for second on the all-time list for winning pitchers.

Perhaps the most mind boggling statistic about Leonard is his 103 complete games. It’s a Royals’ record and one that is untouchable. While it’s something unheard of in today’s game, it’s an impressive feat nonetheless.

To put it into perspective, CC Sabathia is the active leader in this stat and he has 38. He’s also pitched three years longer than Leonard did.

Another impressive stat was his 21 shutouts that came in the 241 starts he made before his knees started failing him. He averaged a shutout in 8.5 percent of his starts. That’s a complete game shutout in almost every ten starts.

Next: Gubz!