Kansas City Royals: Top 15 Pitchers In Losses All-Time

Kansas City Royals All-Time Loss Leaders – Number 10: Luke Hochevar (62 Losses)

While win/loss record isn’t a great way to summarize a pitcher’s performance, it is absolutely revealing in Luke Hochevar‘s case.

Luke Hochevar was just downright bad as a starting pitcher for the Royals. The 2006 first-overall pick of the draft looked like an absolute bust for his first five seasons.

From 2007-2012, Hochever struggled to a 5.44 ERA and a 38-59 record. The Royals were also in the midst of some of the worst baseball in franchise history at the time so it’s hard to place all of the blame on Hochever, but he was downright awful.

Just to remind everyone how bad things used to be, Hochevar was the opening day pitcher for the Royals in 2011. It was a season that saw pitchers like Bruce Chen, Kyle Davies, Felipe Paulino, and Jeff Francis fill out the rotation.

In 2013, the Royals had seen enough of the former first-round pick as a starting pitcher and sent him to the bull pen. The Royals finally had a decent rotation in the likes of James Shields, Ervin Santana, and Jeremy Guthrie and they were willing to use anyone besides Hochever to fill out the rest of the starting spots.

Before Wade Davis became a dominant starter turned reliever, Hochevar underwent a similar transformation. Since transitioning to the bullpen, Hochevar has posted a 2.69 ERA and has his strikeout rate up to more than a strikeout per inning. He’s also 6-3 in the win/loss column since his transition.

Luke Hochevar has had a long journey in his time with the Royals. He went from being a highly anticipated draft pick, to a player with a ‘bust’ label attached to his resume. More recently, he’s the pitcher on record for the ‘W’ as the Royals won their first World Series title in 30 years.

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