# List of Kansas City Royals Opening Day starting pitchers

The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They currently play in the American League Central.
The first game of a new baseball season for a team is known as Opening Day. The Opening Day starting pitcher is often given to the pitcher who is expected to lead the team's pitching staff for that season, though there are strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. The Kansas City Royals have used 25 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 52 seasons. The 23 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 14 wins, 22 losses and 16 no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.
The Kansas City Royals began play in 1969. Wally Bunker was the Royals’ first Opening Day starting pitcher on April 8, 1969, against the Minnesota Twins. The Royals have played in two home ball parks. They played in Municipal Stadium from 1969 through 1972. They played three Opening Day games at Municipal Stadium, winning twice and losing once. The Royals’ starting pitchers received no decisions in both of the wins, leaving their record in Opening Day starts at Municipal Stadium no wins, one loss, and two no decisions. In 1973, the team moved to Royals Stadium (later renamed to Kauffman Stadium in 1993). They have played 24 Opening Day games in the stadium, with starting pitchers having ten wins, ten losses, and four no decisions. On the other hand, the Royals have played 25 Opening Day games on the road. Starting pitchers have a combined record of four wins, thirteen losses, and eight no decisions for road games.
Kevin Appier has most Opening Day starts for the Royals, with seven, including six consecutive start from 1992 to 1997. He has a record of 1–4 with two no decisions in those starts. The other Royal pitchers who have made at least three Opening Day starts are Dennis Leonard with four, and Paul Splittorff, Bud Black, Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Suppan, Gil Meche, and Danny Duffy with three apiece. Bunker, Dick Drago, Steve Busby, Larry Gura and James Shields have each made two Opening Day starts for the Royals.
Black, who has two wins as an Opening Day starting pitcher, is the only Royals pitcher who has won more than one Opening Day start. Black had a record in Opening Day starts of 2–1. Only two Royals pitchers had more than one loss in Opening Day starts, Kevin Appier with four losses and Dennis Leonard with three.
The Royals played in the World Series in 1980, 1985, 2014 and 2015, winning in 1985 and 2015. Leonard, Black, Shields and Ventura were the Opening Day starting pitchers in 1980, 1985, 2014 and 2015 respectively. They combined to have an Opening Day record of 2–1 with one no decision.

## Key

| Season | Each year is linked to an article about that particular Royals season. |
| W | Win |
| L | Loss |
| ND (W) | No decision by starting pitcher; Royals won game |
| ND (L) | No decision by starting pitcher; Royals lost game |
| Final Score | Game score with Royals runs listed first |
| Location | Stadium in italics for home game |
| Pitcher (#) | Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Royals |
| * | Advanced to the post-season |
| ** | AL Champions |
| † | World Series Champions |

## Pitchers

| Season | Pitcher | Decision | Final score | Opponent | Location |
| 1969 | Wally Bunker | ND (W) | 4–3 | Minnesota Twins | Municipal Stadium |
| 1970 | Wally Bunker (2) | L | 4–6 | Oakland Athletics | Municipal Stadium |
| 1971 | Dick Drago | W | 4–1 | California Angels | Anaheim Stadium |
| 1972 | Dick Drago (2) | ND (W) | 2–1 | Chicago White Sox | Municipal Stadium |
| 1973 | Steve Busby | L | 2–3 | California Angels | Anaheim Stadium |
| 1974 | Paul Splittorff | ND (L) | 4–6 | Minnesota Twins | Royals Stadium |
| 1975 | Steve Busby (2) | ND (L) | 2–3 | California Angels | Anaheim Stadium |
| 1976* | Paul Splittorff (2) | L | 0–4 | Chicago White Sox | Comiskey Park |
| 1977* | Paul Splittorff (3) | W | 7–4 | Detroit Tigers | Tiger Stadium |
| 1978* | Dennis Leonard | L | 5–8 | Cleveland Indians | Cleveland Stadium |
| 1979 | Dennis Leonard (2) | W | 11–2 | Toronto Blue Jays | Royals Stadium |
| 1980** | Dennis Leonard (3) | L | 1–5 | Detroit Tigers | Royals Stadium |
| 1981* | Larry Gura | L | 3–5 | Baltimore Orioles | Memorial Stadium |
| 1982 | Dennis Leonard (4) | L | 5–13 | Baltimore Orioles | Memorial Stadium |
| 1983 | Larry Gura (2) | W | 7–2 | Baltimore Orioles | Memorial Stadium |
| 1984* | Bud Black | W | 4–2 | New York Yankees | Royals Stadium |
| 1985† | Bud Black (2) | W | 2–1 | Toronto Blue Jays | Royals Stadium |
| 1986 | Bud Black (3) | L | 2–4 | New York Yankees | Yankee Stadium |
| 1987 | Danny Jackson | L | 4–5 | Chicago White Sox | Royals Stadium |
| 1988 | Bret Saberhagen | L | 3–5 | Toronto Blue Jays | Royals Stadium |
| 1989 | Mark Gubicza | L | 3–4 | Toronto Blue Jays | Royals Stadium |
| 1990 | Bret Saberhagen (2) | ND (L) | 6–7 | Baltimore Orioles | Royals Stadium |
| 1991 | Bret Saberhagen (3) | W | 4–2 | Cleveland Indians | Royals Stadium |
| 1992 | Kevin Appier | ND (L) | 3–5 | Oakland Athletics | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum |
| 1993 | Kevin Appier (2) | L | 1–3 | Boston Red Sox | Royals Stadium |
| 1994 | Kevin Appier (3) | L | 3–6 | Baltimore Orioles | Camden Yards |
| 1995 | Kevin Appier (4) | W | 5–1 | Baltimore Orioles | Kauffman Stadium |
| 1996 | Kevin Appier (5) | L | 2–5 | Baltimore Orioles | Camden Yards |
| 1997 | Kevin Appier (6) | ND (L) | 2–4 | Baltimore Orioles | Camden Yards |
| 1998 | Tim Belcher | W | 4–1 | Baltimore Orioles | Camden Yards |
| 1999 | Kevin Appier (7) | L | 3–5 | Boston Red Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2000 | Jeff Suppan | ND (L) | 4–5 | Toronto Blue Jays | SkyDome |
| 2001 | Jeff Suppan (2) | L | 3–7 | New York Yankees | Yankee Stadium |
| 2002 | Jeff Suppan (3) | ND (L) | 6–8 | Minnesota Twins | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2003 | Runelvys Hernández | W | 3–0 | Chicago White Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2004 | Brian Anderson | ND (W) | 9–7 | Chicago White Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2005 | José Lima | L | 2–11 | Detroit Tigers | Comerica Park |
| 2006 | Scott Elarton | L | 1–3 | Detroit Tigers | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2007 | Gil Meche | W | 7–1 | Boston Red Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2008 | Gil Meche (2) | ND (W) | 5–4 | Detroit Tigers | Comerica Park |
| 2009 | Gil Meche (3) | ND (L) | 2–4 | Chicago White Sox | U.S. Cellular Field |
| 2010 | Zack Greinke | ND (L) | 4–8 | Detroit Tigers | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2011 | Luke Hochevar | L | 2–4 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2012 | Bruce Chen | L | 0–5 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Angel Stadium of Anaheim |
| 2013 | James Shields | L | 0–1 | Chicago White Sox | U.S. Cellular Field |
| 2014** | James Shields (2) | ND (L) | 3–4 | Detroit Tigers | Comerica Park |
| 2015† | Yordano Ventura | W | 10–1 | Chicago White Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2016 | Edinson Vólquez | W | 4–3 | New York Mets | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2017 | Danny Duffy | ND (L) | 1–7 | Minnesota Twins | Target Field |
| 2018 | Danny Duffy (2) | L | 7–14 | Chicago White Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2019 | Brad Keller | W | 5–3 | Chicago White Sox | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2020 | Danny Duffy (3) | L | 0–2 | Cleveland Indians | Progressive Field |
| 2021 | Brad Keller (2) | ND (W) | 14–10 | Texas Rangers | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2022 | Zack Greinke (2) | ND (W) | 3–1 | Cleveland Guardians | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2023 | Zack Greinke (3) | L | 0–2 | Minnesota Twins | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2024* | Cole Ragans | L | 1–4 | Minnesota Twins | Kauffman Stadium |
| 2025 | Cole Ragans (2) | | | Cleveland Guardians | Kauffman Stadium |