# 2002 Kansas City Royals season

The 2002 Kansas City Royals season was the 34th season for the franchise, and their 30th at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals failed to improve on their 65-97 record from 2001 and finished fourth in the American League Central with a record of 62 wins and 100 losses, their first 100 loss season in franchise history. And once again, the Royals missed the postseason for the 17th consecutive season.

## Offseason

* December 18, 2001: Chuck Knoblauch was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* December 19, 2001: Traded a PTBNL to the Chicago Cubs for Michael Tucker. The Royals sent Shawn Sonnier to Chicago on March 15, 2002, to complete the trade.
* January 10, 2002: Paul Byrd was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* March 28, 2002: Donzell McDonald was assigned to the Kansas City Royals by the Cleveland Indians.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 94 | 67 | .584 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 40‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13½ | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Cleveland Indians | 74 | 88 | .457 | 20½ | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Kansas City Royals | 62 | 100 | .383 | 32½ | 37‍–‍44 | 25‍–‍56 |
| Detroit Tigers | 55 | 106 | .342 | 39 | 33‍–‍47 | 22‍–‍59 |

### American League Wild Card

vteDivision leaders :
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
| New York Yankees | 103 | 58 | .640 |
| Minnesota Twins | 94 | 67 | .584 |
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 |
vteWild Card team (Top team qualifies for postseason) :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Anaheim Angels | 99 | 63 | .611 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6 |
| Chicago White Sox | 81 | 81 | .500 | 18 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 78 | 84 | .481 | 21 |
| Cleveland Indians | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 |
| Texas Rangers | 72 | 90 | .444 | 27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 67 | 95 | .414 | 32 |
| Kansas City Royals | 62 | 100 | .383 | 37 |
| Detroit Tigers | 55 | 106 | .342 | 43½ |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 55 | 106 | .342 | 43½ |

### Record vs. opponents

2002 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 7–2 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 9–11 | 9–10 | 8–1 | 12–7 | 7–2 | 11–7 |
| Baltimore | 2–7 | — | 6–13 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 7–0 | 5–1 | 6–13 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 10–9 | 3–6 | 4–15 | 9–9 |
| Boston | 4–3 | 13–6 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 16–3 | 4–3 | 13–6 | 5–13 |
| Chicago | 3–6 | 4–3 | 4–2 | — | 9–10 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 8–11 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–10 |
| Cleveland | 3–6 | 5–1 | 4–5 | 10–9 | — | 10–9 | 9–10 | 8–11 | 3–6 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 6–12 |
| Detroit | 1–8 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 7–12 | 9–10 | — | 9–10 | 4–14 | 1–8 | 1–6 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 5–4 | 0–6 | 6–12 |
| Kansas City | 3–6 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 8–11 | 10–9 | 10–9 | — | 5–14 | 1–5 | 1–8 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–13 |
| Minnesota | 5–4 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 11–8 | 11–8 | 14–4 | 14–5 | — | 0–6 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 6–1 | 10–8 |
| New York | 4–3 | 13–6 | 10–9 | 4–2 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 5–1 | 6–0 | — | 5–4 | 4–5 | 13–5 | 4–3 | 10–9 | 11–7 |
| Oakland | 11–9 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 6–1 | 8–1 | 6–3 | 4–5 | — | 8–11 | 8–1 | 13–6 | 3–6 | 16–2 |
| Seattle | 10–9 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 11–8 | — | 5–4 | 13–7 | 6–3 | 11–7 |
| Tampa Bay | 1–8 | 9–10 | 3–16 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 5–13 | 1–8 | 4–5 | — | 4–5 | 8–11 | 7–11 |
| Texas | 7–12 | 6–3 | 3–4 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 6–13 | 7–13 | 5–4 | — | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Toronto | 2–7 | 15–4 | 6–13 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 4–3 | 1–6 | 9–10 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 11–8 | 1–8 | — | 9–9 |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 2002: Zack Greinke was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 2002 amateur draft. Player signed July 13, 2002.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Brent Mayne | 101 | 326 | 77 | .236 | 4 | 30 |
| 1B | Mike Sweeney | 126 | 471 | 160 | .340 | 24 | 86 |
| 2B | Carlos Febles | 119 | 351 | 86 | .245 | 4 | 26 |
| SS | Neifi Pérez | 145 | 554 | 131 | .236 | 3 | 37 |
| 3B | Joe Randa | 151 | 549 | 155 | .282 | 11 | 80 |
| LF | Chuck Knoblauch | 80 | 300 | 63 | .210 | 6 | 22 |
| CF | Carlos Beltrán | 162 | 637 | 174 | .273 | 29 | 105 |
| RF | Michael Tucker | 144 | 475 | 118 | .248 | 12 | 56 |
| DH | Raúl Ibañez | 137 | 497 | 146 | .294 | 24 | 103 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Aaron Guiel | 70 | 240 | 56 | .233 | 4 | 38 |
| Luis Alicea | 94 | 237 | 54 | .228 | 1 | 23 |
| A. J. Hinch | 72 | 197 | 49 | .249 | 7 | 27 |
| Brandon Berger | 51 | 134 | 27 | .201 | 6 | 17 |
| Luis Ordaz | 33 | 94 | 21 | .223 | 0 | 4 |
| Mark Quinn | 23 | 76 | 18 | .237 | 2 | 11 |
| Ángel Berroa | 20 | 75 | 17 | .227 | 0 | 5 |
| Donnie Sadler | 35 | 68 | 13 | .191 | 0 | 5 |
| Kit Pellow | 29 | 63 | 15 | .238 | 1 | 5 |
| Dee Brown | 16 | 51 | 12 | .235 | 1 | 7 |
| David McCarty | 13 | 32 | 3 | .094 | 1 | 2 |
| Juan Brito | 9 | 23 | 7 | .304 | 0 | 1 |
| Donzell McDonald | 10 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Caruso | 12 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Chan Perry | 5 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 3 |
| Alexis Gómez | 5 | 10 | 2 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Dusty Wathan | 3 | 5 | 3 | .600 | 0 | 1 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Paul Byrd | 33 | 228.1 | 17 | 11 | 3.90 | 129 |
| Jeff Suppan | 33 | 208.0 | 9 | 16 | 5.32 | 109 |
| Shawn Sedlacek | 16 | 84.1 | 3 | 5 | 6.72 | 52 |
| Runelvys Hernández | 12 | 74.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.36 | 45 |
| Chris George | 6 | 27.1 | 0 | 4 | 5.60 | 13 |
| Chad Durbin | 2 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 11.88 | 5 |
| Wes Obermueller | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 2 | 11.74 | 5 |
| Bryan Rekar | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 2 | 15.43 | 2 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Darrell May | 30 | 131.1 | 4 | 10 | 5.35 | 95 |
| Miguel Asencio | 31 | 123.1 | 4 | 7 | 5.11 | 58 |
| Jeremy Affeldt | 34 | 77.2 | 3 | 4 | 4.64 | 67 |
| Dan Reichert | 30 | 66.0 | 3 | 5 | 5.32 | 36 |
| Mac Suzuki | 7 | 21.0 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 15 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Roberto Hernández | 53 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 4.33 | 39 |
| Jason Grimsley | 70 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3.91 | 59 |
| Scott Mullen | 44 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3.15 | 21 |
| Cory Bailey | 37 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.11 | 24 |
| Blake Stein | 27 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7.91 | 42 |
| Ryan Bukvich | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.12 | 20 |
| Brian Shouse | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.14 | 11 |
| Brad Voyles | 22 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6.51 | 26 |
| Kris Wilson | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.20 | 10 |
| Jeff Austin | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 6 |
| Jeremy Hill | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.86 | 7 |
| Mike MacDougal | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.00 | 10 |
| Nate Field | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | Pacific Coast League | Bucky Dent |
| AA | Wichita Wranglers | Texas League | Keith Bodie |
| A | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Carolina League | Jeff Garber |
| A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Joe Szekely |
| A-Short Season | Spokane Indians | Northwest League | Tom Poquette |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Lloyd Simmons |