Cynics might say this falls into the category of "somebody had to go first," but the Kansas City Royals have announced their starting pitcher for opening day.
And that somebody ... is right-hander Luke Hochevar.
("Hochevar," in case you are curious, is pronounced as awkwardly as it is spelled: HOE-shay-vur.)
You also might assume Hochevar has inherited Zack Greinke's mantel, but Greinke has only started opening day once in his career (2010) before being traded to the Brewers. Before that, Gil Meche started three straight openers for Kansas City.
Congratulations, Luke, for inheriting Gil Meche's mantel!
Before Meche, there was Scott Elarton ('06), Jose Lima (Lima Time in '05!), Brian Anderson ('04), Runelvys Hernandez ('03) and Jeff Suppan (2000-03).
It's like the Royals have been wandering around in a desert for the past decade. Or two.
Earnestly, I'm thinking the opening day designation is the sign of something big for Hochevar and the Royals.
Not only might Hochevar be on the verge of pitching well, but in researching his life, I came across his Wikipedia page, which revealed an awesome nickname (almost) nobody knew he had.
He is?! Well, sort of. As often happens, these things start on Twitter, where @prezmike25 responded to @KCYeti one day in January:
While a blatant (and purposeful) ripoff of Chad Johnson's "Ochocinco," the "cinco" part makes sense because� ? as @KCYeti points out ? Hochevar's career ERA is 5.60.
Well, I think Hochevar's going to pitch better than 5.60 this season. As the Fangraphs notes, his career Fielding Independent Pitching is 4.47, and it was 3.93 in 2010. That means, essentially, Hochevar is not as bad as the rest of the Royals have tried to make him look.
Hochocinco also works as a nickname because Hochevar throws a sinker.
Well, a Hochosinker.
There's also the weird kismet of Johnson ? the original (H)Ocho Gangster, himself ? trying out for K.C.'s local MLS club. Plus, didn't he say something about abandoning the Ochocinco nickname?
Dibs!
@KCYeti even took the step of stamping Hochocinco as "internet official" by (harmlessly) vandalizing the Wiki page. And yet, the more Hochocinco is repeated, the less likely the Wikibots will come to scrub it from Hochevar's page.
Hochevar took something of a circuitous route to get here, but someone thought it was meant to be; the Royals tabbed him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Sure, the K.C. regime at the time ignored the likes of Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum (all of whom went in the top 10). But the Hochevar pick still might work out for GM Dayton Moore, who came to Kansas City two days after Hochevar was selected.
Hochevar is 27 years old, but that's OK (pitchers were born older than hitters) and he's accumulated only 387 2/3 innings in the major leagues. Did we have any idea what Nolan Ryan would become at a mere 387 innings?
Let's just assume not.
Follow Dave on Twitter ? @AnswerDave
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