Luke Hochevar

Luke Anthony Hochevar (; 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.

Early life 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 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. 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. 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.

Professional career Draft and minor leagues 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. 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. In four starts, Hochevar posted an 0–1 record, a 1.17 ERA, and 16 strikeouts in innings pitched.

Hochevar began the 2007 season with the Double-A Wichita Wranglers of the Texas League, At midseason, he was chosen to appear in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game, and tossed a scoreless inning during his appearance. 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 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.

Following the Royals' 2009 spring training, Hochevar was optioned to Omaha to learn to "use both sides of the plate with more consistency" and to stay away from big innings. He was called up to the Royals' starting rotation on May 10.

In his 2009 debut on May 12, Hochevar lasted just two innings and surrendered eight runs in a loss to the Athletics. On June 12, Hochevar tossed an 80-pitch complete game, only allowing three hits and one run; this was a feat that had only been accomplished by five American League pitchers in the previous 20 years. On July 25, Hochevar recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven innings in a 6–3 win over the Texas Rangers. On September 18, Hochevar threw his first career shutout in an 11–0 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Despite these accomplishments, Hochevar struggled with his consistency through the 2009 season, posting the highest ERA of AL starters (6.55) while going 7–13 in 25 starts. On June 16, he was placed on the disabled list with a strained right elbow. At the time, he was 5–4 with a 4.96 ERA in 13 starts. He returned near the end of the season, and finished at 6–6 with a 4.81 ERA in 18 games (17 starts). He gave up four runs (three earned) while striking out five in innings to earn the loss against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At the All-Star break, he had a win–loss record of 5–8 with a 5.46 ERA. He fared significantly better after the break, ending the season with an 11–11 record, a 4.68 ERA, and a 1.28 WHIP in 31 starts. He allowed more earned runs than any other major league pitcher, and his -1.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was the worst of his career.

On March 13, 2013, Royals manager Ned Yost announced that Hochevar would not begin the season in the starting rotation. Hochevar was instead assigned to the bullpen for middle relief duties. In that role, he performed effectively for the Royals, posting a 5–2 record, two saves, and a 1.92 ERA in 58 relief appearances. He also struck out 82 batters while walking only 17 in 70 innings. The surgery caused Hochevar to miss the entire 2014 season.

On December 3, 2014, Hochevar signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Royals. He made 49 appearances in the 2015 season, with a record of 1–1, one save, and an ERA of 3.73. He made nine total appearances in the postseason, going 2–0 without allowing an earned run in innings.

On August 13, 2018, Hochevar announced his retirement.

Pitching style Hochevar had a wide variety of pitches: a four-seam fastball and sinker that averaged about 93 mph, a cutter averaging 89, a slider at 85, a curveball in the high 70s, and a changeup in the low 80s. He used five of the pitches to both right-handed and left-handed hitters, eschewing only the slider to lefties and the changeup to righties. His wide pitch variety could make him unpredictable to hitters; even in full counts, Hochevar threw his four-seamer, sinker, cutter, and slider in roughly equal proportions.

Personal Hochevar comes from a family of athletes. In addition to his father's college basketball career and success as a high school and college baseball coach, Luke's sister Brittany was a volleyball standout at Long Beach State and played beach volleyball for the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour.

Hochevar and his wife, Ashley, married in January 2007. They have two daughters and one son.