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Kansas City Royals: Best Pitchers of All-Time in Wins Above Replacement

By Leigh Oleszczak

Larry Gura #37 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Larry Gura #37 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /
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Royals southpaw Paul Splittorff (Photo by William N. Jacobellis/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)
Royals southpaw Paul Splittorff (Photo by William N. Jacobellis/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images) /

ALL-TIME LEADERS IN WAR FOR PITCHERS – NUMBER 8: PAUL SPLITTORFF

Royals Pitcher from 1970-1984 (WAR – 22.7)

With an all-time WAR of 22.7, Paul Splittorff is eighth all-time for the Royals pitchers. He spent his entire 15-year career with the Kansas City Royals and leads the franchise in all-time wins with 166.

Splittorff was taken by the Royals in the first ever amateur draft and never would pitch for another organization. He finished his 15-year career with a 3.81 ERA and 1.340 WHIP in 2554.2 innings pitched.

During Splittorff’s time as a Royal, he had 88 complete games and 17 shutouts. The guy was the ultimate competitor and hated to lose whenever he was on the mound. He never made it to an All-Star Game or won any fancy awards, but for the Royals, he was one of the best ever at what he did.

As we touched on earlier, being with a team for a long time definitely boosts the WAR, but don’t get it twisted. Pitchers still have to perform well to have a decent WAR and Splittorff’s shows that he was one of the all-time greats.

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