Kansas City Royals: Players Missed in the MLB Draft
71. Royals had the first overall pick; Kershaw taken seventh overall. Pitcher. Los Angeles Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw. 1. player
Other players the Royals missed out on in 2006: Evan Longoria, Tim Lincecum, and Max Scherzer.
The Kansas City Royals held the first overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft and selected Luke Hochevar. Now we all love Hoch, but he’s a failed starter, who was pretty much banished to the bullpen. He’s done well there, but the Royals could have drafted Clayton Kershaw, and just IMAGINE what could have been.
Six selections after Hochevar was off the board, Clayton Kershaw went to the Dodgers. The fact that he’s gone on to have the career that he’s had is pretty depressing to think about.
Since his MLB debut in 2006, Kershaw has an average ERA of 2.39 in 254 games (252 starts) and has recorded 1,841 strikeouts. There’s no question that Kershaw has been clutch during his time in the major leagues, and it’s sad to think about what could have been with him, and potentially Zack Greinke (the two did end up playing together in Los Angeles for several years) in the rotation.
There’s no question that Kershaw has been clutch during his time in the major leagues, and it’s sad to think about what could have been with him, and potentially Zack Greinke in the rotation.
Now onto the positive side of things, and that’s that Kershaw has not been as much of a stud in the postseason. In fact, in nine series, Kershaw has a record of 4-7 and an average ERA of 4.55. He hasn’t been that “ace” during the postseason, and thus, has not made it to a World Series since he came up to the big leagues.
The Royals have been there twice and won it once.
Hochevar, on the other hand, was originally in the starting rotation until he was moved to the bullpen in 2013. He had a nice year in the pen and fans were excited for him to help out more in 2014, but he missed the entire season due to needing Tommy John surgery.
Now, Hochevar has established himself in the Royals’ bullpen. He was nearly lights out during the World Series run in 2015 and even got the win in the deciding Game 5. While he’s no Clayton Kershaw, he wasn’t the worst pick by any means, though he’s no longer with the Royals or even with a team at the moment.
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