Royals take Luke Hochevar with top overall pick

The Kansas City Royals selected former Tennessee pitcher Luke Hochevar with the first No. 1 overall selection in franchise history, in this year’s Major League Baseball draft yesterday.

Hochevar, currently a member of the Fort Worth Cats of the Independent League, was the 40th overall selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s draft, according to an article by MLB.com. The two sides could not reach a contract agreement. Hochevar walked away from a $3 million signing bonus offer and ended up in the Independent League.

In 2005, the 6-5 right hander was the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the year and the Roger Clemens Award Winner, given to the nation’s top college pitcher. His fastball has been clocked at 97 mph.

The Royals have lost over 100 games in three of the past four years. They selected Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon with the second overall pick a year ago and will have next year’s first overall pick if they continue to post the worst record in baseball.

Hochevar was drafted by the Dodgers in the 39th round of the 2002 draft following his senior year in high school. He opted to attend the University of Tennessee.

The draft consists of 50 rounds and will end tomorrow.

 

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