MLB Milwaukee Brewers

Signing Luke Hochevar Should Be Milwaukee Brewers’ Top Offseason Priority

Fresh Videos

By @schwick26_pete

Kansas City Royals Luke Hochevar

Getty Images

This past October, dominating bullpens controlled the postseason. If the Kansas City Royals had a lead through six innings, the game was virtually over. While Madison Bumgarner had a remarkable playoff run that cannot be matched, pitchers like Yusmeiro Petit and Jeremy Affeldt had giant impacts out of the bullpen. These great performances may result in a shift in how bullpens are run. With a greater focus on how bullpens are built, the Milwaukee Brewers should focus on bringing Luke Hochevar to Milwaukee.

There may be other arms on the market, such as Andrew Miller, who are more highly sought after, but bringing in an arm like Hochevar would be a big step in building a lock-down bullpen.

After having Tommy John surgery last March, Hochevar did not pitch an inning last season with the Royals, but his 2013 was outstanding. During that season, his first and only in the bullpen, he not only saw a rise in velocity but also a boost in all of his numbers. Appearing in 59 games in 2013, Hochevar went 5-2 with a 1.92 ERA. He also saw his strikeouts per nine innings number rise to a career-high 10.5 (an average of 3.5 strikeouts more than his previous career high).

Coming off of the surgery, the signing would be relatively cheap but not without risk. But adding him to a bullpen of Will Smith, Jonathan Broxton and Jeremy Jeffress could give the Brewers a bullpen that routinely hold leads the potential to be great. The postseason showed just how important a solid bullpen is and bringing Hochevar to Milwaukee is certainly worth the gamble.

Pete Schwichtenberg is a Milwaukee Brewers for Rantsports. Follow @schwick26_pete, Like him on Facebook, or add him to your Google Network.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on