I recently looked at the top Royals position players by Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for rolling five-year periods in club history. Here is the same for the twirlers:
1969-73
13.9 WAR Dick Drago
8.0 WAR Paul Splittorff
7.6 WAR Roger Nelson
Drago was the only pitcher to pitch regularly during each of the five first years of Royals play. “Regularly” is an understatement–he averaged 227 innings a year in this span. His 3.52 ERA only translates to a 101 ERA+, but staying healthy and pitching, pitching, and pitching some more makes him the standout hurler from the first half decade. He still ranks ninth on the team’s all-time innings pitched list.
1970-74
12.1 Dick Drago
10.1 Steve Busby
9.4 Paul Splittorff
1971-75
16.2 Steve Busby
11.8 Paul Splittorff
11.6 Al Fitzmorris
Busby’s arm only allowed him three full seasons, 1973-75.
1972-76
15.7 Steve Busby
13.3 Al Fitzmorris
9.5 Paul Splittorff
1973-77
14.6 Steve Busby
13.6 Al Fitzmorris
10.1 Paul Splittorff
1974-78
13.2 Dennis Leonard
10.9 Steve Busby
10.7 Al Fitzmorris
1975-79
16.0 Dennis Leonard
8.3 Paul Splittorff
6.8 Larry Gura
1976-80
16.7 Dennis Leonard
12.6 Larry Gura
8.1 Paul Splittorff
1977-81
17.9 Dennis Leonard
15.0 Larry Gura
8.0 Paul Splittorff
Leonard’s top five WAR seasons all came in succession from ’77-’81. He averaged an impossible 261 innings during the stretch.
1978-82
15.3 Larry Gura
11.8 Dennis Leonard
9.2 Dan Quisenberry
1979-83
14.5 Dan Quisenberry
11.3 Larry Gura
9.4 Dennis Leonard
1980-84
17.0 Dan Quisenberry
10.2 Larry Gura
6.8 Buddy Black
6.8 Dennis Leonard
1981-85
18.1 Dan Quisenberry
8.4 Buddy Black
8.1 Bret Saberhagen
1982-86
17.7 Dan Quisenberry
10.8 Charlie Leibrandt
10.4 Buddy Black
The Quiz dominated the ’79-’86 stretch and is the only reliever to top any five-year period.
1983-87
16.9 Bret Saberhagen
16.3 Charlie Leibrandt
15.8 Dan Quisenberry
1984-88
21.4 Charlie Leibrandt
20.4 Bret Saberhagen
18.8 Mark Gubicza
1985-89
27.6 Bret Saberhagen
23.1 Mark Gubicza
20.0 Charlie Leibrandt
Leibrandt’s 20.0 WAR is the highest total for any number three on these lists. 20 WAR players tend to get strong consideration for the team hall of fame. That three Royals starters racked up that amount in the same five year stretch is crazy.
1986-90
24.2 Bret Saberhagen
22.0 Mark Gubicza
13.7 Charlie Leibrandt
1987-91
27.4 Bret Saberhagen
18.2 Mark Gubicza
10.6 Charlie Leibrandt
1988-92
20.4 Bret Saberhagen
16.1 Mark Gubicza
14.5 Kevin Appier
1989-93
22.9 Kevin Appier
16.9 Bret Saberhagen
16.6 Jeff Montgomery
1990-94
28.4 Kevin Appier
13.6 Jeff Montgomery
12.7 David Cone
1991-95
28.0 Kevin Appier
13.2 Jeff Montgomery
12.7 David Cone
1992-96
30.9 Kevin Appier
12.7 David Cone
11.8 Jeff Montgomery
Ape remains vastly underappreciated as one of the dominant pitchers of the ’90s. This is the only five year stretch in team history that anyone not named George Brett has 30+ WAR.
1993-97
28.6 Kevin Appier
12.7 David Cone
9.6 Jeff Montgomery
1994-98
20.0 Kevin Appier
9.4 Tim Belcher
7.6 Mark Gubicza
1995-99
17.0 Kevin Appier
9.8 Jose Rosado
9.4 Tim Belcher
1996-2000
12.7 Kevin Appier
9.9 Jose Rosado
9.4 Tim Belcher
1997-2001
8.4 Jeff Suppan
6.5 Kevin Appier
6.4 Jose Rosado
1998-2002
9.6 Jeff Suppan
6.6 Paul Byrd
5.3 Jose Rosado
1999-2003
9.0 Jeff Suppan
6.6 Paul Byrd
5.9 Darrell May
2000-04
6.6 Paul Byrd
6.6 Darrell May
6.3 Jeff Suppan
2001-05
6.6 Paul Byrd
6.6 Darrell May
4.4 Zack Greinke
After having strong pitching from the club’s inception through the mid-’90s, things get really ugly in the new millennium. 6.6 is the lowest list-leading total, and 4.4 is the lowest number period.
2002-06
6.6 Darrell May
4.8 Paul Byrd
4.5 Zack Greinke
2003-07
7.2 Zack Greinke
5.6 Darrell May
4.9 Gil Meche
2004-08
11.4 Zack Greinke
8.7 Gil Meche
6.3 Joakim Soria
2005-09
16.6 Zack Greinke
9.4 Gil Meche
9.0 Joakim Soria
2006-10
18.3 Zack Greinke
12.7 Joakim Soria
9.0 Gil Meche
Awarding three points for every number one spot on these lists, two points for number two, and one point for third place, the leaders look like this:
27 Kevin Appier
20 Bret Saberhagen
16 Dennis Leonard
14 Dan Quisenberry
14 Zack Greinke
13 Steve Busby
12 Larry Gura
12 Paul Byrd
11 Paul Splittorff
11 Darrell May
Keep in mind that is roughly a reflection of how each pitcher out-performed his own teammates in his own time with the Royals.
Number of five year periods at number one:
8 Kevin Appier
5 Bret Saberhagen
4 Dennis Leonard
4 Dan Quisenberry
4 Zack Greinke
3 Steve Busby
3 Jeff Suppan
2 Larry Gura
2 Paul Byrd
2 Darrell May
2 Dick Drago
1 Charlie Leibrandt
Retired pitchers from that list not in the team hall of fame: Paul Byrd, Darrell May, Dick Drago and Charlie Leibrandt. Byrd, May and Drago do not have much of a case for induction. Leibrandt is a borderline candidate in my mind, probably falling just short.
Looking ahead to the almost completed next stretch of five seasons:
2007-11 (through August 14, 2011)
18.2 Zack Greinke
13.2 Joakim Soria
9.0 Gil Meche
And now for something sad. The next three pitchers on that list:
2.8 Robinson Tejeda
2.8 Bruce Chen
2.8 Brian Bannister
(I have combined the position player and pitcher five-year period WAR lists to get the top three players overall on my blog here.)
You should probably follow Aaron Stilley on the Twitters.
