Luke Hochevar

Luke Anthony Hochevar (/ˈhoʊtʃeɪvər/; born September 15, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played college baseball at the University of Tennessee, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals from 2007 through 2016. He was the first overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball draft and a member of the 2015 World Series champions.

Hochevar was born in Denver, Colorado, raised in Wiley, Colorado, and later moved to Fowler, Colorado, with parents Brian and Carmen Hochevar along with one brother and one sister. His father was a college basketball player at the University of Southern Colorado (now CSU Pueblo) who had an unsuccessful tryout with the Denver Nuggets and who later turned to coaching, including serving as Luke's baseball coach at Fowler High School. While at Fowler High, Hochevar was named Colorado Division 2A Player of the Year his senior year and was a three-time all-state selection. He was a multi-sport athlete, earning all-state honors in basketball. Hochevar excelled in the classroom as well, and was named an academic all-state four consecutive years.

Hochevar was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 39th round (1,191st overall) of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, but he chose to attend college at the University of Tennessee instead. Hochevar was used primarily as a relief pitcher during his freshman year for the Volunteers, striking out 73 batters and walking 24 in 77 innings of work. After the 2003 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. His sophomore season was injury plagued for Hochevar; he missed a total of eight weeks playing time. However, he was good enough to be selected for the USA Baseball National Team, earning the victory in the FISU II World University Baseball Championship against Japan. Hochevar bounced back as a junior, striking out a school record 154 batters, posting a 15–3 record, and 2.26 ERA for the season. For his efforts, he was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and won the Roger Clemens Award.

The Dodgers selected Hochevar again, this time in the first round (40th overall) of the 2005 MLB draft. After initial negotiations between the Dodgers and Hochevar and his agent Scott Boras, Hochevar switched agents to Matt Sosnick and accepted a $2.98 million signing bonus from scouting director Logan White. However, the next day Hochevar changed his mind on switching agents, returning to Boras and reneging on the deal. Several months of lukewarm talks continued, but amidst much bitterness, the two sides never came close to reaching a new agreement. Hochevar signed with the Fort Worth Cats of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent baseball league. He had a 1–1 win–loss record and a 2.38 earned run average (ERA) in four games started with Fort Worth.

Hochevar entered the draft yet again in 2006 and was selected first overall by the Kansas City Royals. On August 3, nearly two months after the draft, Hochevar signed a four-year major league contract worth $5.25 million guaranteed with the Royals. He received a $3.5 million signing bonus with the ability to earn as much as $7 million over the four years. After he signed, the Royals assigned Hochevar to the Single-A Burlington Bees of the Midwest League. In four starts, Hochevar posted an 0–1 record, a 1.17 ERA, and 16 strikeouts in 15+1⁄3 innings pitched.

Hochevar began the 2007 season with the Double-A Wichita Wranglers of the Texas League, going 3–6 with a 4.69 ERA in 17 games (16 starts). He also led the Texas League in strikeouts (94) and innings pitched (94) at the time of his promotion to the Triple-A Omaha Royals on July 11. At midseason, he was chosen to appear in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game, and tossed a scoreless inning during his appearance. In 10 starts with Omaha, Hochevar went 1–3 with a 5.12 ERA.

On September 5, 2007, Hochevar was recalled to the Royals for the first time. He made his major league debut against the New York Yankees on September 8, throwing three shutout innings in an 11-5 loss. In four appearances (one start), Hochevar had a 0–1 record and a 2.13 ERA.

After competing for a rotation spot during spring training in 2008, Hochevar was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on March 23. On April 20, he was recalled from Omaha, and made the start that day against the Oakland Athletics. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits in 4+2⁄3 innings to earn the loss. In his next start on April 26, Hochevar earned his first MLB win, allowing one earned run in six innings to help the Royals to a 2–1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2008, he had the lowest run support of all major league pitchers, with an average of 2.8 runs per game started, finishing with a record of 6–12. His ERA though, was a high one, finishing at 5.51 in 22 starts.