Kansas City Royals: Every First Round Pick Since 2000

Every Royals first-round draft pick since 2000: Luke Hochevar (2006)

After a miserable 2005 season, the KC Royals held the first overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft. With that pick, they selected pitcher Luke Hochevar, who had previously been drafted twice, both times by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hochevar was initially a starter, but after five years of looking horrendous in the starting rotation, he was moved to the bullpen. The bullpen is where Hochevar really came into his own, posting a 1.92 ERA.

Unfortunately, Hochevar missed all of 2014 after needing Tommy John surgery, but he was able to heavily contribute to the team in 2015. In fact, Hochevar was actually the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the World Series after throwing two scoreless innings.

In 2016, Hochevar was okay but missed the last half of the season due to injury. He never did sign with anyone after coming back from injury.

While Hochevar didn’t live up to his “first overall pick” hype, he still means a lot to the Royals and to their fans. He was nails during that 2015 postseason and it’s hard to forget moments like that.