2021 KC Royals Hall of Fame ballots are out, but who should go In?

Here are three KC Royals fan favorites, who are appearing on the Royals Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.

Billy Butler

Billy Butler was a first-round draft pick of the Royals in 2004. He played for the Royals in eight seasons (2007 to 2014).

• Reasons For: Billy Butler! (insert claps) Billy Butler! (insert claps) Billy Butler! That chant will always be etched into anyone’s head who watched Big Country Breakfast take the field. Billy was the AL Silver slugger in 2012 as a DH. That same year he represented the Royals in the All-Star game that took place at Kauffman Stadium.
• Butler currently ranks in the Royals top 10 in eight statistical categories to include: tied for 3rd in batting average (.295), 8th in hits (1273), 7th in doubles (276), tied for 10th in home runs (147), 7th in RBI (628), 8th in total bases (1938), tied for 10th in slugging percentage (.449), and 10th in games played (1166).

Butler also was active with his contributions to the Harvesters of Kansas CIty as well as his signature Billy Butler “hit it a ton” BBQ sauce from Zarda. He’s still incredibly well-liked in Kansas City.

• Reasons Against: After the 2014 season, Dayton Moore decided to go in a different direction with his DH position. That decision turned out to be a wise one, as Butler signed a three-year $30 million contract with the A’s and never lived up to that contract, not even seeing it out with the A’s. It turns out that not bringing Butler back led to the Royals getting Kendrys Morales, which could have turned out to be the best free-agent signing by Dayton Moore since he became the Royals GM.

Jeremy Guthrie

Jeremy Guthrie came to the Royals in a trade with the Colorado Rockies for Jonathan Sanchez on July 20 of 2012. Guthrie then signed a free-agent contract that kept him a Royal until 2015.

• Reasons For: The free-agent signing of Guthrie was the real start of the Royals committing to winning. Guthrie still considered one of the most dominant pitchers when facing AL Central teams. In 2013, he went 11-6 with a 3.87 ERA and in that same season, he tallied 15 wins. He still holds the Royals’ mark for going 17 games without a loss.
• Guthrie earned a win in Game 3 of the 2014 World Series. He also made the start in Game 7 of the World Series.
• Reasons Against: Even though he was a workhorse for the team over three-plus seasons, Guthrie didn’t win the biggest game of his career (Game 7 of the 2014 World Series). His overall numbers will seem mediocre compared to others who didn’t make the RHOF over the same span of years.

Luke Hochevar

Luke Hochevar was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft, which was the first-ever overall number one selection the Royals have ever had.

• Reasons For: He once threw an 80-pitch game to beat the Reds 4-1 in 2009, becoming only the second pitcher since 2006 to accomplish that feat. Hoch was only two batters shy of Steve Busby’s team record of retiring 33 straight batters in 2011.
• Eventually, in 2013, Hochevar transitioned into the Royals bullpen where he ranked third in the AL in batting average (.169) and 6th in ERA (1.92) that season.
• Hochevar didn’t participate in the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery but came back strong in 2015 where he became the ninth pitcher in Royals history with two wins in the same postseason, which included Game 5 of the 2015 World Series.
• Reasons Against: Much like several others on this ballot, Hochevar didn’t represent the team in an All-Star Game and really didn’t truly develop into an impact pitcher until after being moved to the bullpen. The same bullpen that had others that will most likely be in the RHOF. He didn’t live up to the hype of being the No. 1 overall pick.