I want to make this clear…so it does not get twisted. Luke Hochevar did not tell me he was tipping pitches…I found out during the game from a very good baseball person (not with the Royals) that personally told me

The Royals and Luke very recently were made aware of this…I met up with Luke in the clubhouse after the game and we spent about 10 or 15 minutes discussing this

He feels that his thoughts on why he was not having success even when he has had great stuff was vindicated. The telling points for him were Aybar and Abreu’s ab’s last start

Typically, pitchers find out they have been tipping pitches when they go to a new organization and they are told by their new team. But, this is not to different than the Garza situation in Tampa a couple of seasons ago,

It is a wrist tip (he moves his wrist a certain way and hitters see it)…at least it is believed to be….they are studying everything to figure it out…But, that s what they have focused on
The other team’s won’t tell you what it is, you have to figure that out on your own

You have to understand, that this is not your dad’s big leagues….a lot of these guys share agents or are friends and eventually people talk

this will only help Luke in the long run

the Reds and Rangers must feel like the stupidest teams in the league after this

I’m glad the Royals crack staff was on top of this

went through the same thing in KC when he was a young, struggling pitcher with electric stuff…

It’s bad that he’s tipping pitches, but it’s a better explanation for his recent downfall than just “he caught the suck that’s been going around the dugout lately”

On a related note, I wonder if teams have a guy who gets paid to review tapes of upcoming opponent pitchers to look for things like this. Sort of an advance video scout.

Jeff Zimmerman-

I tried calling you and it looks like your number has changed…e-mail me at gschaum@entercom.com and I will give you my number. I would like to see what you could put together and I will certainly share it with Luke if it is as good as the stuff you usually do. He is very frustrated and feels he has basically wasted 2 years. He knew big league hitters were good, but not this good…he has complete confidence in his stuff and could not believe that the stuff he had was hit hard by some and missed by others….one number he threw at me was the difference in offensive numbers betweent the teams he thinks were unaware and the ones that were…he has always been tough on lefties and he says that stat differential is eye popping…we talked about the exact numbers and it really is an amazing statistical difference…

So how long will it take to correct this and get the ‘new’ Luke Hochevar!?

I think we have to hope that they do have this taken care of…But, I said this more out of respect for what Jeff does…I think he could be a viable reference for this situation. Plus, I think the Royals should be willing to look at any and everything to help their investment out. I know Luke would at least take a look at it and form his opinion…it can’t hurt to try

April 7 to June 16 (132 pitch outing): 4-5, 3.31 ERA, 67 K, 31 BB, 2 HR, 84.1 IP

June 17 – present: 2-5, 8.46 ERA, 28 K, 27 BB, 15 HR, 44.2 IP, several missed starts, complaints of arm feeling tired/funny and back tightness, now shut down for rest of the season..

It’s a pretty telling sign that he was cursed by that start.

Joe Nathan.

Check out his horrific starts in late April and early May, 2000. Yup, tipping pitches. Good news: he got better.

This is a chink in the armor of Bob McClure more than anyone else.

I’d also be curious to find out if he had a consistent catcher…if Olivo caught him 90% of his starts & didn’t catch anything, it is a black mark against him (like he needs any more)

The A’s and Red Sox