Yardbarker: Luke Hochevar

MLB No. 1 draft picks: Where are they now?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:53:11 -0500

The Mariners logged their 100th loss last night. With four games remaining on the 2008 schedule, they have a shot at being tied with the 1978 Mariners for worst team in franchise history. Of course, we saw this coming as early as June. The comparison to the '78 club was striking even then. So, were does this leave us? The M's aren't getting a trophy for their ineptness. But they could have the No. 1 draft pick if they finish with the worst record in the league. Only the Washington Nationals could foil those plans – their current record is 59-99. Will the No. 1 draft pick cure all? Nope. Will he even see a Mariner roster? Maybe not. Is it worth watching bad baseball for six months? I'm not so sure. Stephen Strasburg, a right-handed pitcher from San Diego State, seems to be the consensus choice to go No. 1 overall in 2009 and the M's could always use another pitcher to mishandle. While drafting No. 1 doesn't always guarantee you get an impact player, the last 10 picks at that spot have produced some jewels. It has also produced a dud or two. Here's a "where are they now" of the last 10 No. 1 overall draft picks:

MLB Punchlines: Dan Uggla Is Now A Benchwarmer

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:53:25 -0500

Dan Uggla and his .200 batting average in the second half have found themselves on the bench. (USA Today)

Giants rookie Pablo Sandoval and his Nomar-like pre-at-bat routine. (San Fran Chronicle)

Although they slipped up this weekend losing 2 of 3 to the Astros, the Mets have had a lot of their high priced players stepping up the past couple weeks. (NY Daily News)

Although MLB players like Matt Treanor are going to miss Olympic baseball, can baseball get back into the games if the pros play? (Miami Herald)

Chase Utley is a rarity in that he is an L.A. guy who does not have an ego. (L.A. Times)

It seems like a big deal has been made about the Dodgers in the last month. Taking a look at the standings they are 3 GB and only have a .500 record overall. (L.A. Times)

Better pickoff move: Kenny Rogers or Sherry Smith? (Detroit Free Press)

How much can the Tigers expect to get out of Gary Sheffield in '09? (Detroit Free Press)

The Royals will shut down Luke Hochevar and his bruised ribs. (Rocky Mountain News)

All-Tough Pronunciation Team

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:11:57 -0500

The most commonly butchered name pronunciations/spellings: Catcher: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, TEX – Longest name in MLB history (14 letters). Just call him Salty – I wonder if he loves to play pepper. First base: Micah Hoffpauir, CHC – Pronounced "Hoff-POWER," but he could end up with more power than Huff. Second base: Mark Grudzielanek, KC – You can't help but sound like Harry Caray when you say his last name, who usually added a few syllables. But you have to respect him for being a Cub fan and a Bud Man. Shortstop: Clint Barmes, COL – When he's not injuring himself lugging deer meat up a flight of stairs, he's getting his name pronounced incorrectly.

Joey And Jason On The Rangers: Trade Possibilities

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:58:14 -0500

Dissecting the Texas Rangers' growing backstop conundrum; what would it take to pry Ian Kinsler loose from the Rangers?

Game 99: Tigers at Royals

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:47:39 -0500

PREGAME: Don't know if you heard, but the Tigers are 0-6 against the Royals this year. In those 6 games the Tigers have managed all of 11 runs. They been shut out twice. Tonight's starter Luke Hochevar held the Tigers to 4 hits, 3 walks, and no runs in 6 innings [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Game 99: Tigers at Royals", url: "http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/2008/07/game-99-tigers-at-royals/" });

AccuScore: MLB Waiver Wire Wonders

Fri, 16 May 2008 14:52:10 -0500

The availability of waiver wire players varies by league. Andrew Miller would be useless in a league that featured Todd Wellemeyer on the wire, but would be a solid option in deeper leagues. Luckily, AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams has a few "tips" for all types of leagues in this week's Waiver Wire Wonders.

Game #30: Cleveland's offense continues bad joke in loss to Royals

Sun, 04 May 2008 11:59:39 -0500

The Cleveland Indians mustered up a grand total of four hits against Kansas City's relative no-names, Luke Hochevar, Ron Mahay, Ramon Ramirez, Joakim Soria, as the Royals defeated the hapless Indians, 4-2 in Cleveland on Saturday Night. The Royals finally got to C.C. Sabathia in the seventh inning, after the 2007 Cy Young winner threw six shut-out innings. Even Sabathia couldn't overcome the mockery called the Indians' offense.

AccuScore: Waiver Wire Wonders

Fri, 02 May 2008 12:44:12 -0500

Players on the waiver wire are often met with unfair criticism. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams takes a look at some Waiver Wire Wonders like LaRoche and Gutierrez who mostly do good, but are punished to the waiver wire because of one weakness.

AccuScore: MLB Prospect Watch

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:48:08 -0500

Whether it is the hot starts by Gavin Floyd and John Danks of the White Sox, the surprise hitting from John Bowker of the Giants, or the minor league progress of players like Jay Bruce, AccuScore fantasy baseball expert Tim Williams has it covered in this week's prospect watch.

Hochevar called up

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:32:50 -0500

The Royals have called up their top pitching prospect Luke Hochevar...

Beyond the Boxscore--Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/19/08; Hochevar, Greinke, Lincecum, Cueto, more

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:37:26 -0500

The player who has created the biggest buzz so far this year in fantasy baseball has been Johnny Cueto, and so far he hasn't disappointed. His owners had to be very curious how he would do after giving up five runs in his previous start. Would he bounce back? Or was he doomed to start to struggle like most pitchers in his situation? Cueto answered today with another great outing. He went seven innings, gave up just two earned runs and struck out five. He wasn't around for the decision, but it was a good answer after being roughed up for the first time in the majors. Another young fireballer, Tim Lincecum looks like he is putting it all together this year. He has yet to give up more than two runs in any of his four starts, and he shut down the St. Louis Cardinals for the second consecutive time on Saturday. During that time he has also struck out 16 batters in just 13 innings, and he is now 3-0. This is about the most that you could expect from Tiny Tim, you have to expect him to be the victim of poor run support pitching in San Francisco, but so far that hasn't bothered him. Mentioning this for possibly the last time in an article, two more guys hit their first homers of the year. In San Francisco their latest bad contract, Aaron Rowand finally went deep for the first time. Rowand has at least been hitting for a good average when he has been healthy, but to expect him to repeat his numbers from 2007 is just crazy. If you own him, hope that he goes on a hot streak and you can get someone to bite on him. While Chipper Jones is lighting it up in Atlanta, the Jones they let go, Andruw Jones is floundering badly in LA. Jones has been moved to 7th in the lineup, and finally hit his first homer today. How the mighty have fallen! He hit just .222 with 26 HRs last year, and he got his average up to .182 with just three RBI so far in 2008. Once one of the more feared hitters in the NL, Jones is getting close to being on the chopping block of many fantasy rosters. Zach Greinke also has caused a great deal of talk in fantasy baseball this season, and I stand by my opinion that he will not have a great season. I admit, I have been starting to worry that I may be way off on this guy, but today he gave me some of my confidence back. Not saying he was bad, but at least he took a step back. He did just give up two runs over five innings, but it was the four walks that caught my eye. That is what does in young pitchers every time, the walks. Greinke didn't factor in the decision, so he remains at 3-0, and his ERA rose to 1.24. I still say "sell high" he won't keep this up all year. More from Kansas City, the number one overall pick in 2006 will be on the mound on Sunday. Luke Hochevar will be making his season debut for the injured John Hale (who?), and should be a two start pitcher this week. He is 1-1 in the minors this season with a 2.60 ERA and 12 Ks in 17.1 innings. He is one of the elite pitching prospects in the game, and if you are looking for pitching, definitely give him a chance, he could be dominant. Normally, I wouldn't suggest picking up a Royals pitcher so strongly, but with the success of Zach Greinke (ugh) and Brian Bannister, it looks like you can win games as a pitcher for the Royals. Click below for the rest

Rookie Call-Ups to Watch

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:59:19 -0500

Read about how Adam Miller will try to be this year's Fausto Carmona; Jarrod Saltalamacchia wants Texas to forget about Mark Teixeira; and 7 other rookies who are destined to be called up this season and can make an impact on your fantasy team.

Spring Training Wrap Up - Prospect Watch

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:08:26 -0500

It seems like there have been an inordinate amount of highly touted prospects competing for starting jobs this spring training. In this article, we take a look at where some of baseball's top prospects will start the season and what to expect from them in 2008.

Luke Hochevar

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:43:44 -0500

by Kevin Mark One of the questions the Royals are going to have to answer is the role of Luke Hochevar. The Royals will have to decide soon if Hochevar will begin the year with Kansas City or at AAA Omaha. If Hochevar does begin the year in Kansas City, the Royals must determine if it is best for his development to open the season in the bullpen or as part of the starting rotation....(more)

A.L Central preview,Happy New Year

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:28:18 -0500

Hey everyone first I hoped a great christmas, and a great new years eve and day so let's get to it. 1.Cleveland Indians Can the Indians break the curse of Rocky Colavito in 08',well it'll be tough to take the Red Sox off there temple.Let's start with the pitching like I always do. The pitching for the Indians is looking really good they again have the 290 pound ace in C.C Sabathia,a great contender for 08' Cy Young Fausto Carmona and you can't forget about about the great #3 of Paul Byrd who if he was with in half of the other teams he would either be a low #1 or a good #2. When you look at there lineup on a stat sheet it really doesn't look like much but if you watched any of there games there a good team, and clutch when they really need that hit to the right to bring in the runner from first. The one guy who I think deserves more credit with his impact on this team is Victor Martinez. He's a great catcher who has great average and he can give you 20-25 homers a year. So it was hard to choose between Detriot and Cleveland but I'll give Cleveland a little advantage but I won't be surprised to see Detriot to take the number 1 spot in the Central. 2. Detriot Tigers Wow this is really gonna be a good battle between Detriot and Cleveland, but because they have Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera doesn't mean they're the best team in the league but there pretty close to being that. The pitching for this team is pretty good but not as good as in Cleveland but still good.Verlander is a pretty damn good ace with a good 3.60 ERA and he'll likely get up to 22 wins this year.Dontrelle if you're reading this I wish you good luck in trying to take the #2 spot from Bonderman, you both are good pitchers so good luck in the season man. What more do I have to say about this lineup other than wow, with the addition of Miguel Cabrera,Edger Renteria, and Jacque Jones and there core of guys like I-Rod.,Ordonez, and Granderson. So for this team will be a pitchers nightmare and be a Tiger fans dream. 3. Minnesota Twins With the loss of Hunter and let's take Santana out of the picture, and this is gonna look like a new team in 08'. With the loss of Santana this will be a younger and less exprienced rotation. If the Twins are trusting Liriano to be the ace which they likely are if there not gonna get a good pitcher when they trade Santana. So if Liriano performs at least 80% of what he did in 06' and if Boof Bonser surprises the baseball universe and gets at least 12 wins this year this could be a average rotation if all of this happens. If you look at the lineup from last years team and 08's team you'll think they'll 2 different teams. As only 4 starters return to the team in 08' some of the newest players that comes to the Twin Cities include one of the big name youngsters Delmon Young, and the average former Tiger Craig Monroe. So if the pitching staff does decent and the hitting does as good as they can this could be a wile card team at best. 4. Kansas City Royals Yes I'm putting the Royals ahead of the Sox because all of the youngsters that started in 07' should make a big impact on the team this year, and the Sox have one of the worst rotations in the Central but the Royals aren't much better. As this young team looks to step out of the AL Central cellar, there rotation really needs to mature and mature fast because GIl Meche and Zack Greinke aren't the two pitchers that Kansas City needs to improve this team. One pitcher you need to watch for is youngster Luke Hochevar who in all the Baseball America's I read and in the Future's Game I watched this past year this guy is a great prospect and he could be the Jered Weaver of 08' mark my words. When I look at this lineup I see potential but they need to put that potential and impress the Kansas City market and put butts in seats. The 2 prospects that people need to look for is Billy Butler and Alex Gordon who both had looks at big league pitching and Gordon actually looked good at the end of the season so he might do something in 08'. 5. Chicago White Sox This 05' World Series champs are in the rebuilding process as many of there bigger players are getting up there in age and getting passed there prime. As Contreras is in his late 30's and Buehrle is coming off his season of his career someone really needs to step up and give Bobby Jenks and this offense some good pitching and allow less runs. This lineup looks pretty good with the likes of Crede, Konerko and the newest addition of Cabrera but the aging of Jermaine Dye and Thome might bring this team down, but I'm not really worried about Thome because he's a DH and it takes along time for a DH to age. So I hope you had a great new year and I'd like to thank Crooked Pitch and droppinbombs and everyone who helped me on my way. So let's make 08' the best year ever!!