Luke Hochevar News: Royals manager Ned Yost said that he did not envision Hochevar as a long reliever but rather a power arm capable of pitching in the late innings as a set-up man, the Kansas City Star reports. "Hoch is a guy who can go long," Yost said,

Royals manager Ned Yost said that he did not envision Hochevar as a long reliever but rather a power arm capable of pitching in the late innings as a set-up man, the Kansas City Star reports. "Hoch is a guy who can go long," Yost said, "but, right now, I think he's a guy who can pitch in the seventh or eighth inning. That's why we can get him acclimated in the last few weeks (of spring training)."

Hochevar was given the news prior to Wednesday's exhibition game and is scheduled to pitch in relief on Friday. "I'm willing to take the ball in any position that I can to help the club," he said. "That's the bottom line. Whether it's starting or in relief, whatever it is, my role is not important. What's important is that when I take the ball, I'm helping the club." It's good to see Hochevar toeing the company line here. The team has gone to great lengths over the years to give him every chance possible to succeed and each year the results have been less than spectacular. Should Hochevar actually be in the mix to bridge the gap from starter to closer he could, in fact, have better value in fantasy as a reliever than he did as a starter, at least in deep AL-only play or leagues that count holds. We'll see how everything shakes out over the next three weeks, but for now you can feel free to ignore Hochevar in most formats.