Former Cats Square Off Tonight In MLB
Published on April 7, 2010 under American Association (AA)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
FORT WORTH, TX - A very unique pitching duel will take place tonight in Kansas City when the Royals host the Detroit Tigers. Former Fort Worth Cat pitcher Max Scherzer will take the mound to square off against former Fort Worth Cat pitcher Luke Hochevar. It is the first time that two hurlers that began their professional careers in independent league ball have faced each other in a major league game- and they did it with the same team.
In 2005, the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Hochevar with the 40th pick in the MLB draft, but the two sides could not come to a contract agreement. That led Hochevar to sign with the Cats for the 2006 season, where he made four starts, going 1-1 while striking out 34 in 22.2 innings. Hochevar was then selected number one overall in the 2006 MLB draft by the Royals, and signed with Kansas City two months later. He has since worked his way up through the Royals' farm system and begins the season as their number two starter.
Also in that 2006 draft, Scherzer was the 11th selection overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He did not initially come to terms with the team and signed with the Cats to pitch in 2007. He made three starts with Fort Worth, going 1-0 with 25 strikeouts in 16 innings before signing with the Diamondbacks. After pitching for parts of two seasons in Arizona, going 9-15, Scherzer was traded to Detroit last December and will be making his first regular season start for the Tigers.
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