Hochevar signs autographs at the Royals Caravan |
There have been a few changes since the season ended. Zack Greinke is gone. Gil Meche retired and it sounds like they are looking at you as the Opening Day starter. What are your thoughts about that?
When you lose one or two bona fide aces – with Gil retiring and Zack getting traded, you know, it creates room for young guys to come up and to have a young squad. With that, having the opportunity to pitch in that spot – it really excites me. If that’s the case, I’m willing to take the ball, really, any day they tell me to take the ball. I’m excited about it.
Like I’ve said before, my expectations are higher than anyone else’s so, that won’t bother me. But then again, I enjoy that pressure. I enjoy getting leaned on. I enjoy that and I feel like I welcome it.
You were out for a while last year with an injury. What are you overall thoughts about the way you pitched last season?
The injury sidelined me for two months. That really put a damper on things. And you know, I really felt like before I went down, it was clicking. That just comes with experience. What really got me excited last year was when I came off the DL, after a relief outing and just getting my feet wet again, there toward the end, I felt like I came in and started picking up kind of where where I left off – obviously being a little rusty, not pitching for a couple of months. But other than that, I felt like I kept making strides even there at the end of the season after being down for two months, and so I’m just looking to come into this season and just keep it rolling – keep making my strides, keep getting better – and helping the team win ball games.
Is there anything you’ve worked on during the off-season – a certain pitch, like your sinker, or any routine?
You know, just really refining everything. My goal going into the off-season, there were a couple of mechanical things that I wanted to continue to work on, and then on top of that, just polishing my curve ball a little bit – just making it a little more tighter and being able to command that pitch in any count in any situation.
That’s what I do with all my pitches, but I feel like my slider, my sinker, my cutter, my fastball, are all pitches that I know I’ll be able to command those pitches. It’s just a matter of putting it together in sequences, not being predictable.
So I looked at a lot of video this past off-season, watched a lot of hitters, watched a lot of film on pitchers like Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright – you know, guys who I’m somewhat similar to pitch-type wise, and just saw how they mixed their pitches and that’s something I really focused on, was setting up hitters and mixing and not being predictable.
And so those things, and then obviously with my elbow, I strengthened my forearm and the muscles around my ligament that I went down with last year, just so I’m durable. I put on some weight last year as well just to take on the rigors of an entire season. Just log innings and win ball games.
With Zack being traded and DeJesus being traded, a lot of people are saying the team is taking a step back this year to get ready for the prospects next year. Do you guys feel that way? If so, what’s that like?
No, absolutely not. The team is going to take on a new face because we are younger, we did (trade) a big arm in Zack and Gil retiring, but we’re just going to take on a new face. It doesn’t mean we’re taking steps backward. It doesn’t mean we’re regressing. We’re just going to take on a new face.
Good teams have an entire team that clicks on the same page. Good teams have every guy on the team pulling on the same side of the rope. And I know playing under [manager] Ned [Yost] for just half a season, he knows that. He knows what it takes to win championships [12 NL East titles as a coach in Atlanta]. He (turned it around) in Milwaukee and the guys on the club know that and so just knowing that is going to put a little more swagger in our step. And that’s what we’re looking for.
In these young guys coming up, they’ve got a lot of moxy and they’re winners. And so, I don’t feel – and I don’t think anyone in the organization feels – that we are taking a step back. Because if you do think that way, then you will take a step back. And I think everyone is coming out with one goal in mind, and one goal only, and that’s to win a division and then who knows what happens from there.
I think Dayton’s putting together, and has put together, a make up of guys who are winners. So really there’s no telling what can happen, especially if guys pull together and really get rocking and rolling.
Is there added confidence in the locker room when you go through a difficult season like last year knowing you have one of the best minor league systems in baseball?
I don’t really think that you think like that. I think you go through what you go through, but you just keep fighting and scraping. I don’t think that you think you’re ever down in the dumps or ... you just can’t think like that. But we do have the best minor league system in all of baseball and we do have some great prospects coming up.
But in the same sense, being up there, we have to create an environment at the big league level that is a winning environment so when those young guys come up, or even if they break camp, you know, just creating a winning environment so that the only goal and the only thing that matters is winning, then when those young guys come up they are groomed into that type of atmosphere and that’s what you want. You don’t want guys coming up in a dog-down clubhouse. You want them coming up win a winning atmosphere. I know that that is what Ned’s created and that’s what Ned’s going to continue to create.