MLB / Players

Dennis Leonard

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at6 ft 1 in · 190 lb

BornMay 18, 1951 · Brooklyn, NY, USA

MLB debutSeptember 4, 1974

Final gameSeptember 27, 1986

Seasons12 (1974–1986)

Kansas City Royals 1974–1983; Kansas City Royals 1985–1986

Percentile snapshot

1986 season — qualified pitchers

12.2

20.7

51.2

SHO

62.2

207

45.1

36.6

85.4

114

25.6

43.9

192.7

29.3

ERA

4.44

24.4

WHIP

1.339

K/9

5.33

FIP

3.95

41.5

FIP-

93.8

56.1

ERA+

94.9

30.5

sWAR

1.4

of 83 qualified 1986 pitchers (min 162 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

ERA+

106.8

sWAR

28.0

96.1

ERA+ measured against qualified careers (1,000+ IP), 1,334 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1974	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-0.2
1975	32	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.3
1976	35	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.6
1977	39	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	6.3
1978	40	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.7
1979	32	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.9
1980	38	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.7
1981	26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5
1982	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-0.2
1983	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.9
1985	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.1
1986	33	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.4

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	SV	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1974	5	4	0	4	0	0	0	28	13	12	8	0	22.0	5.32	1.818	3.27	3.89	102.6	71.3	-0.2
1975	32	30	15	7	0	8	0	212	89	90	146	18	212.3	3.77	1.422	6.19	3.68	95.6	102.1	2.3
1976	35	34	17	10	0	16	2	247	101	70	150	16	259.0	3.51	1.224	5.21	3.20	91.2	100.0	2.6
1977	38	37	20	12	1	21	5	246	99	79	244	18	292.7	3.04	1.110	7.50	2.77	68.2	133.4	6.3
1978	40	40	21	17	0	20	4	283	109	78	183	27	294.7	3.33	1.225	5.59	3.39	88.2	115.4	4.7
1979	32	32	14	12	0	12	5	226	107	56	126	33	236.0	4.08	1.195	4.81	4.25	99.3	105.0	2.9
1980	38	38	20	11	0	9	3	271	118	80	155	30	280.3	3.79	1.252	4.98	3.91	95.8	107.8	3.7
1981	26	26	13	11	0	9	2	202	67	41	107	15	201.7	2.99	1.205	4.78	3.10	85.5	121.3	3.5
1982	21	21	10	6	0	2	0	145	74	46	58	20	130.7	5.10	1.462	3.99	4.89	119.5	80.3	-0.2
1983	10	10	6	3	0	1	0	69	26	19	31	3	63.0	3.71	1.397	4.43	3.37	82.6	109.7	0.9
1985	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2.0	0.00	.500	4.50	1.74	42.2	—	0.1
1986	33	30	8	13	0	5	2	207	95	51	114	22	192.7	4.44	1.339	5.33	3.95	93.8	94.9	1.4

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

313

RBI

Pitching

G (P)

312

302

346th-most career GS

144

288th-most career W

106

484th-most career L

103

397th-most career CG

SHO

207th-most career SHO

2,187

355th-most career IP

SO (P)

1,323

315th-most career SO (P)

BB allowed

622

ERA

3.695

WHIP

1.2615

393rd-lowest career WHIP

K/9

5.44

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	TB
1976-06-23	KC @ TEX Gameday	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1977-07-16	NYY @ KC Gameday	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1977-08-29	KC @ NYY Gameday	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Pitching

Date	Game	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1977-07-08	ATH @ KC Gameday	9.0	6	2	2	1	13	0
1977-09-23	KC @ LAA Gameday	9.0	5	3	3	4	13	1
1977-08-14	KC @ TOR Gameday	7.0	5	5	5	4	12	0
1977-06-24	KC @ ATH Gameday	9.0	3	0	0	5	11	0
1977-09-08	KC @ SEA Gameday	9.0	6	2	1	2	10	1

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.