What years did Dennis Leonard play?

Dennis Leonard played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1986.

Was Dennis Leonard a pitcher?

Yes. Dennis Leonard pitched in the major leagues, recording 144 wins and 1323 strikeouts.

Dennis Leonard

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1974-1986)

W–L 144–106

ERA 3.70

WHIP 1.26

SO 1,323

Pitcher PIV 11743.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 5/18/1951 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1974-09-04
Last Game: 1986-09-27

Full name: Dennis Patrick Leonard

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
144	106	312	302	103	23	1	2187.0	2,137	898	202	622	1,323	3.70	11743.4

Career ERA 3.70 vs. league average 3.81 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1974	KCA	AL	0	4	5	4	0	0	0	22.0	28	13	12	8	5.32	3.63 (-47%)	-148.0
1975	KCA	AL	15	7	32	30	8	0	0	212.3	212	89	90	146	3.77	3.71 (-2%)	-10.5
1976	KCA	AL	17	10	35	34	16	2	0	259.0	247	101	70	150	3.51	3.51 (avg)	2036.3
1977	KCA	AL	20	12	38	37	21	5	1	292.7	246	99	79	244	3.04	4.00 (+24%)	9592.3
1978	KCA	AL	21	17	40	40	20	4	0	294.7	283	109	78	183	3.33	3.69 (+10%)	2088.4
1979	KCA	AL	14	12	32	32	12	5	0	236.0	226	107	56	126	4.08	4.00 (-2%)	-1282.9
1980	KCA	AL	20	11	38	38	9	3	0	280.3	271	118	80	155	3.79	3.84 (+1%)	-439.8
1981	KCA	AL	13	11	26	26	9	2	0	201.7	202	67	41	107	2.99	3.58 (+17%)	2220.8
1982	KCA	AL	10	6	21	21	2	0	0	130.7	145	74	46	58	5.10	3.86 (-32%)	-3455.2
1983	KCA	AL	6	3	10	10	1	0	0	63.0	69	26	19	31	3.71	3.87 (+4%)	921.6
1985	KCA	AL	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2.0	1	0	0	1	0.00	—	0.0
1986	KCA	AL	8	13	33	30	5	2	0	192.7	207	95	51	114	4.44	3.97 (-12%)	220.5
Career · 12 seasons			144	106	312	302	103	23	1	2,187.0	2,137	898	622	1,323	3.70	—	11,743

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
313	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	G	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1974	KCA	AL	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	KCA	AL	32	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	KCA	AL	35	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	KCA	AL	39	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	KCA	AL	40	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	KCA	AL	32	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	KCA	AL	38	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	KCA	AL	26	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	KCA	AL	21	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	KCA	AL	10	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	KCA	AL	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	KCA	AL	33	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			313	—	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1981	AWDIV	KCA	1	.000
1980	ALCS	KCA	1	.000
1980	WS	KCA	2	.000
1978	ALCS	KCA	2	.000
1977	ALCS	KCA	2	.000
1976	ALCS	KCA	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
3	5	10	9	0	50.0	56	24	10	31	4.32

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1981	AWDIV	KCA	0	1	1	1	8.0	7	1	1	3	1.12
1980	ALCS	KCA	1	0	1	1	8.0	7	2	1	8	2.25
1980	WS	KCA	1	1	2	2	10.7	15	8	2	5	6.75
1978	ALCS	KCA	0	2	2	2	12.0	13	5	2	11	3.75
1977	ALCS	KCA	1	1	2	1	9.0	5	3	2	4	3.00
1976	ALCS	KCA	0	0	2	2	2.3	9	5	2	0	19.29

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (625 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	162	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	151	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	162	1156.1	1114	418	295	640	3.25
Away	150	1030.2	1023	480	327	683	4.19

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1986-09-27	KCR	OAK	—	1.1	7	3	3	0	0	0
1986-09-23	KCR	MIN	L	1.2	5	4	4	1	1	1
1986-09-18	KCR	LAA	L	3.2	6	8	8	5	4	1
1986-09-13	KCR	SEA	W	7.0	5	4	4	5	2	1
1986-09-08	KCR	MIN	W	9.0	3	0	0	2	6	0
1986-09-03	KCR	CHW	—	7.0	6	1	1	1	2	0
1986-08-29	KCR	MIL	L	8.0	7	3	3	1	3	0
1986-08-24	KCR	MIL	—	6.2	6	1	0	3	8	0
1986-08-19	KCR	TEX	—	4.0	3	1	1	1	2	0
1986-08-14	KCR	BOS	—	2.2	8	5	5	0	2	2

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	312	302	135	292	24	28

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1974	KCA	P	5	4	3	7	0	1
1975	KCA	P	32	30	14	28	2	4
1976	KCA	P	35	34	11	23	6	2
1977	KCA	P	38	37	21	29	4	2
1978	KCA	P	40	40	16	43	1	2
1979	KCA	P	32	32	19	32	1	2
1980	KCA	P	38	38	9	41	1	4
1981	KCA	P	26	26	13	31	0	3
1982	KCA	P	21	21	16	18	3	2
1983	KCA	P	10	10	2	11	2	2
1985	KCA	P	2	0	0	0	0	0
1986	KCA	P	33	30	11	29	4	4

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	312
Designated Hitter	1

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1986	Hutch Award
1975	Player of the Week	Week of 1975-08-29

Salary History

Year	Team	League	Salary
1986	KCA	AL	$883,333
1985	KCA	AL	$871,429
Total Career Earnings			$1,754,762

College History

School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Iona College	New Rochelle	NY	1970, 1971, 1972

Award Voting History

Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1978	Cy Young Award	AL	7th	1.0	140	0
1977	Cy Young Award	AL	4th	45.0	140	5
1977	Most Valuable Player	AL	29th	1.0	392	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Dennis Leonard (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dennis Leonard

What years did Dennis Leonard play?: Dennis Leonard played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1986.
Was Dennis Leonard a pitcher?: Yes. Dennis Leonard pitched in the major leagues, recording 144 wins and 1323 strikeouts.