Thursday, March 14, 2013

Royals Spring Training Updates – Hochevar Moved To Bullpen

Despite being a former top overall draft pick, Luke Hochevar has struggled with consistency as a starter his entire career in Kansas City. Now it appears that the right-hander’s days as a starter with the Royals are over, as Kansas City announced that Hochevar will be moved to the bullpen.

Hochevar had been competing with Bruce Chen and Luis Mendoza for the final spot in the starting rotation along with James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana and Wade Davis. Now the battle is between Chen and Mendoza. Chen has been steady for the Royals, and has the most wins of any pitcher with the organization over the past three years. Despite Chen’s consistency, Mendoza has to be the favorite. After a rocky start to last season, Mendoza has pitched very well and could be due for a big season.

Hochevar has baffled Kansas City fans with his inconsistency – at times he looks like a dominant starter, other times he looks like he doesn’t belong in the major leagues. Unfortunately, the bad has outweighed the good in his career, and the former top pick has a 5.39 ERA and a 38-59 record in 132 career starts.

While Mendoza and Chen are the front-runners to win the fifth starter’s spot, Will Smith has emerged as a dark horse candidate. Smith has a 1.29 ERA so far this spring and could be a potential starter down the road for Kansas City.

The emergence of Smith may lead to Kansas City considering trading Hochevar, as Kansas City already has a loaded bullpen. Greg Holland’s job as the closer and Kelvin Herrera’s position as his setup man are locks, and the Royals also have Aaron Crow, Tim Collins, Nate Adcock and Louis Coleman as relief pitchers. The loser of the Chen and Mendoza battle could also be used in relief, and it appears there isn’t much room for Hochevar. Don’t be surprised if the Royals try to shop Hochevar over the next couple of weeks.



luke hochevar trade moved to bullpen - KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

No comments:

Post a Comment

DISCLAIMER

This is a legally confirmed "open forum" website that is not responsible for any content posted within. The opinions, articles and comments on this site do not reflect the opinions of the owner of this site, or it's subsidiaries.