Kansas City Royals: The Royals could’ve possibly changed the future of their franchise today. As expected, Kansas City selected right handed pitcher Luke Hochevar with the first overall pick in today’s amateur draft.
Hochevar re-entered the draft this year after not coming to terms with the Dodgers last year. He’s spent this year playing for the independent Forth Worth Cats. Hochevar has showed good velocity in shaking off some rust. He’s shown a consistent mid-90’s fastball to go along with an above average breaking ball.
The Royals believe Hochevar’s work ethic will be enough to get him to the majors very soon. Major league scouts say his sinking fastball reminds them a lot of Kevin Brown. The right hander, who went to the University of Tennessee, comes in with four effective pitches. His fastball is accompanied by a slider, curveball, and a changeup. If Hochevar develops at the rate most scouts believe he will, it is widely assumed by baseball experts that he could turn into a number one starter in the majors.
Hochevar was actually in the draft last year. He was picked by the Dodgers in the supplemental round (40th overall) between the first and second rounds. The two parties were unable to come to a monetary agreement and Hochevar never joined the team. Instead of returning to the Volunteers, the pitcher decided to join Fort Worth. Coming out of college, Hochevar was the 2005 Roger Clemens Award winner which goes to the top pitcher in college baseball.
Max Scherzer: The junior pitcher from Mizzou was picked #11 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks becoming the highest draft pick in school history. No other Tiger baseball player has ever been drafted in the first round. Scherzer finished this season first in the Big 12 Conference with a 1.95 ERA. His 7-2 record includes a win over then-No.1 Florida.
Last season, Scherzer won Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and set a school record with 131 strikeouts.
Brett Sinkbeil: The 6’3” 195lbs pitcher was selected #19 overall by the Florida Marlins. The Missouri State star had some injury problems this season but that didn’t stop the Marlins from salivating over his plus-90 mph fastball. Despite the injury, Sinkbeil started 11 games going 5-1 with a 2.45 ERA.