Luke Hochevar

Lore & Background

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 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.

Reader's Guide

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; he missed a total of eight weeks playing time. However, he was 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. He was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and won the Roger Clemens Award. The Dodgers selected Hochevar again in the first round (40th overall) of the 2005 MLB draft. After initial negotiations, Hochevar switched agents to Matt Sosnick and accepted a $2.98 million signing bonus, but the next day changed his mind, returning to agent Scott Boras and reneging on the deal. 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 league, posting a 1–1 record and a 2.38 ERA in four starts. He entered the draft again in 2006 and was selected first overall by the Kansas City Royals. On August 3, he signed a four-year major league contract worth $5.25 million guaranteed with a $3.5 million signing bonus. He was assigned to the Single-A Burlington Bees, posting an 0–1 record, a 1.17 ERA, and 16 strikeouts in four starts. He began 2007 with the Double-A Wichita Wranglers, going 3–6 with a 4.69 ERA in 17 games (16 starts), leading the Texas League in strikeouts (94) and innings pitched (94) at the time of his promotion to Triple-A Omaha on July 11. He appeared in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game, tossing a scoreless inning. In 10 starts with Omaha, he went 1–3 with a 5.12 ERA. On September 5, 2007, Hochevar was recalled to the Royals. He made his MLB debut against the New York Yankees on September 8, throwing three shutout innings in an 11-5 loss. In four appearances (one start), he had a 0–1 record and a 2.13 ERA.

Did You Know?

• He was a member of the 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals and was the winning pitcher in Game 5.
• Hochevar underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2014, missing the entire 2014 season.