Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies players: who played for both

Who played for both the Royals and Phillies?

100 players played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies between 1969 and 2025, including Cookie Rojas, Mike Sweeney, Bob Boone and Jim Eisenreich. 48 of them played for the Royals first and 49 for the Phillies first; 3 played for both in the same season.

Did you know?

  • Billy Sorrell is the earliest on this list to complete the pair: Phillies first, then the Royals from 1970.
  • Carlos Hernandez is the most recent: Royals first, then the Phillies from 2025.
  • Cookie Rojas played the most games across the two: 880 for the Royals and 880 for the Phillies.
  • 14 of them had two or more separate spells with one of the teams, such as Juan Samuel.
  • Most common positions on this list: P (51), OF (22), C (9), 2B (5).

How many can you name?

Name players who played for both the Royals and the Phillies. The surname is enough. 0 / 100

All 100 players, most games for the two first

Seasons and regular-season games with each franchise (1876–2025). A gap of a season or more starts a new spell.
PlayerPosRoyalsPhillies
Cookie Rojas2B1970–1977 (880 g)1963–1969 (880 g)
Mike SweeneyDH1995–2007 (1282 g)2010 (26 g)
Bob BooneC1989–1990 (171 g)1972–1981 (1125 g)
Jim EisenreichOF1987–1992 (650 g)1993–1996 (499 g)
Whit Merrifield2B2016–2022 (863 g)2024 (53 g)
Juan Samuel2B1992, 1995 (44 g)1983–1989 (852 g)
Raul IbanezOF2001–2003, 2014 (431 g)2009–2011 (433 g)
Steve JeltzSS1990 (74 g)1983–1989 (653 g)
Maikel Franco3B2020 (60 g)2014–2019 (656 g)
Danny TartabullOF1987–1991 (657 g)1997 (3 g)
Gregg Jefferies1B1992 (152 g)1995–1998 (473 g)
Jerry MartinOF1982–1983 (160 g)1974–1978 (444 g)
Desi RelafordSS2003–2004 (255 g)1996–2000 (320 g)
Ryan MadsonP2015 (68 g)2003–2011 (491 g)
Lonnie SmithOF1985–1987 (302 g)1978–1981 (196 g)
Jeff FrancoeurOF2011–2013 (360 g)2015 (119 g)
Jose OffermanSS1996–1998 (415 g)2005 (33 g)
Matt StairsOF2004–2006 (330 g)2008–2009 (115 g)
Michael TuckerOF1995–1996, 2002–2003 (418 g)2005 (22 g)
Tom GordonP1988–1995 (277 g)2006–2008 (137 g)
Ross Gload1B2007–2008 (224 g)2010–2011 (187 g)
Ricky BottalicoP2000 (62 g)1994–1998, 2001–2002 (330 g)
Andres Blanco2B2004–2006 (78 g)2014–2017 (301 g)
Carlos Santana1B2021–2022 (210 g)2018 (161 g)
Gene GarberP1973–1974, 1987–1988 (105 g)1974–1978 (250 g)
Chris JamesOF1995 (26 g)1986–1989 (326 g)
Doug BirdP1973–1978 (292 g)1979 (32 g)
Jason GrimsleyP2001–2004 (251 g)1989–1991 (28 g)
Chad DurbinP1999–2002 (48 g)2008–2010, 2013 (210 g)
Jake DiekmanP2019 (48 g)2012–2015 (191 g)
Matt StrahmP2016–2017 (45 g)2023–2025 (188 g)
Sal FasanoC1996–1999, 2001 (164 g)2006 (50 g)
Mitch WilliamsP1997 (7 g)1991–1993 (200 g)
Grant JacksonP1982 (20 g)1965–1970 (180 g)
Jose SantiagoP1997–2001 (105 g)2001–2002 (95 g)
Billy BrewerP1993–1995 (144 g)1997–1999 (52 g)
Jerry SpradlinP2000 (50 g)1997–1998 (145 g)
Jorge BonifacioOF2017–2019 (187 g)2021 (7 g)
Jeremy GiambiOF1998–1999 (108 g)2002 (82 g)
Bruce ChenP2009–2014 (157 g)2000–2001 (31 g)
Ian KennedyP2016–2020 (163 g)2021 (23 g)
Benito SantiagoC2004 (49 g)1996 (136 g)
Joe HoernerP1973–1974 (52 g)1970–1972, 1975 (133 g)
Roberto HernandezP2001–2002 (116 g)2004 (63 g)
Danny JacksonP1983–1987 (119 g)1993–1994 (58 g)
Carlos HernandezP2020–2024 (150 g)2025 (25 g)
Jeff Conine1B1990, 1992, 1998 (130 g)2006 (28 g)
Scott ServiceP1997–1999 (153 g)1988 (5 g)
Dane IorgOF1984–1985 (142 g)1977 (12 g)
Erik KratzC2014–2015 (17 g)2011–2013, 2015 (132 g)
Rob TejedaP2008–2011 (123 g)2005 (26 g)
David LoughOF2012–2013 (116 g)2016 (30 g)
Ted SavageOF1971 (19 g)1962 (127 g)
Jose CardenalOF1980 (25 g)1978–1979 (116 g)
Mike WilliamsP1997 (10 g)1992–1996, 2003 (128 g)
Mark DavisP1990–1992 (95 g)1980–1981, 1993 (36 g)
Brandon MossOF2017 (118 g)2011 (5 g)
A. J. HinchC2001–2002 (117 g)2004 (4 g)
Endy ChavezOF2001 (29 g)2005 (91 g)
Joe BlantonP2015 (15 g)2008–2012 (105 g)
Carmelo MartinezOF1991 (44 g)1990 (71 g)
Paul ByrdP2001–2002 (49 g)1998–2001 (61 g)
Brandon DuckworthP2006–2008 (43 g)2001–2003 (65 g)
Paul BakoC2006 (56 g)2009 (44 g)
Renie MartinP1979–1981 (86 g)1984 (9 g)
Daniel NavaOF2016 (9 g)2017 (80 g)
Carlos EstevezP2025 (67 g)2024 (20 g)
Jeff GrotewoldDH1995 (15 g)1992 (72 g)
Rawly EastwickP1980 (14 g)1978–1979 (73 g)
Jason VargasP2014–2017 (74 g)2019 (11 g)
Jimmy ParedesOF2014 (9 g)2016 (76 g)
Shawn CampP2004–2005 (71 g)2014 (3 g)
Billy Sorrell3B1970 (57 g)1965 (10 g)
Humberto QuinteroC2012 (43 g)2013 (24 g)
Ken BrettP1980–1981 (30 g)1973 (37 g)
Jose de JesusP1988–1989, 1994 (10 g)1990–1991 (53 g)
Larry McWilliamsP1989–1990 (21 g)1989 (41 g)
Dan SchatzederP1991 (8 g)1986–1987 (51 g)
Rudy SeanezP2004 (16 g)2008 (42 g)
Todd CruzSS1979 (55 g)1978 (3 g)
Tom PrinceC2003 (8 g)1999–2000 (50 g)
Bailey FalterP2025 (4 g)2021–2023 (50 g)
Steve Scarsone2B1999 (46 g)1992 (7 g)
Michael LorenzenP2024–2025 (34 g)2023 (11 g)
Michael MariotP2014–2015 (19 g)2016 (25 g)
Sean O'SullivanP2010–2011 (26 g)2014–2015 (16 g)
Jose BautistaOF2004 (13 g)2018 (27 g)
Mark RyalOF1982 (6 g)1989 (29 g)
Mike MorinP2017 (6 g)2019 (29 g)
Ben LivelyP2018–2019 (6 g)2017–2018 (21 g)
Kelly StinnettC2004 (20 g)2003 (7 g)
Jayson Nix3B2014 (7 g)2014 (18 g)
Wayne SimpsonP1973 (16 g)1975 (7 g)
Neftali FelizP2017 (20 g)2021 (2 g)
Mike JacksonP1972–1973 (16 g)1970 (5 g)
Paul AbbottP2003 (10 g)2004 (10 g)
Paul SpoljaricP2000 (13 g)1999 (5 g)
Jay BallerP1990 (3 g)1982, 1992 (12 g)
Les WalrondP2003 (7 g)2008 (6 g)
Adam BerneroP2006 (3 g)2006 (1 g)

From the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0), 1876–2025. A season counts when the player played at least one regular-season game for the franchise.Phillies seasons include the Philadelphia Quakers (1883–1889) and Philadelphia Blue Jays (1943–1944).

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Questions

How many players have played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies?

100 in the Lahman Baseball Database from 1969 to 2025, including Cookie Rojas, Mike Sweeney, Bob Boone and Jim Eisenreich. A player counts when he played at least one regular-season game for each franchise.

Who was the first player on this list to play for both?

Billy Sorrell: Philadelphia Phillies first, then the Kansas City Royals from 1970.

Who has played for both recently?

Whit Merrifield, Matt Strahm, Carlos Hernandez, Carlos Estevez, Bailey Falter and Michael Lorenzen, with a season for one of the two in 2024 or 2025.

Does a player count if the team has moved or changed its name?

Yes. Seasons count for today's franchise, the way the Lahman database links every team-season to a franchise. Phillies seasons include the Philadelphia Quakers (1883–1889) and Philadelphia Blue Jays (1943–1944).

Careers from the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0). Team logos are trademarks of their respective teams (logos via TheSportsDB). Independent and not affiliated with MLB or any team. Credits