KC Royals: Top Ten Rookie Seasons All-Time

Number One: Kevin Seitzer – Rookie Year: 1987

Kevin Seitzer is, without question, the best rookie hitter the Royals ever had.

In spite of his fantastic year he lost out on Rookie of the Year honors to Mark McGwire. McGwire hit 49 home runs in his rookie season, so it’s not hard to see why he took home the award.

In 1987, Kevin Seitzer made the Royals’ roster out of training camp. He was used as a first baseman at the start of the season but later moved to the hot corner to try and extend George Brett’s career.

He was kind of overshadowed as a rookie by the presence of Bo Jackson, who hit 22 home runs on the year, but he didn’t have the caliber numbers of Seitzer.

In 725 plate appearances as a rookie in 1987, a MLB high, he slashed .323/.399/.470. He had 207 hits that season which was also an MLB high.

He also hit 33 doubles that season and spent a lot of time over by his fielding position with eight triples on the year.

Perhaps most impressive was his eye at the plate. He drew 80 walks in his rookie season and has a Royals’ career on base percentage of .380. That’s good enough for eighth best in team history.

He put up a bWAR of 5.5 that season which was good enough for 17th best in baseball that season. He spends his time now as the hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves. They currently have three home runs on the year.

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