Kansas City Royals: Opening Day starters over past decade

KANSAS CITY, MO - APRIL 10: Opening day base during the Kansas City home opening game between the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals on April 10, 2017 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Athletics defeated the Royals 2-0 (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Luke Hochevar #44 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

2011 OPENING DAY STARTER – LUKE HOCHEVAR

Taken number one overall in the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft over the likes of Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, and Max Scherzer, Luke Hochevar never found it as a starting pitcher in the Majors.

Eventually, he’d help the Royals win the pennant and World Series in 2015, but in 2011, the Royals were still intent on making the former top pick a contributing member of the starting rotation. And so, on Ned Yost’s first Opening Day with the club, he gave the ball to Hochevar.

The Royals would lose at home to the Angels, 4-2. In the game, Hochever went 5.2 innings giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out five. After he was pulled, the bullpen went 3.1 innings of shutout ball. Unfortunately, the offense was stifled by the Angels’ Jered Weaver.

For 2011, Hochever would go on to make 31 starts, finishing 11-11 with a 4.68 ERA, 87 ERA+, 4.29 FIP and 1.283 WHIP in a career-high 198 innings pitched. He’d last one more season as a starter before getting forced into the bullpen.

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