SCOUTS MOB FT. WORTH'S LUKE HOCHEVER

We don't need a limb to climb on when predicting a frenzied atmosphere Saturday when Ft. Worth hosts Shreveport in the third game of the American Association's launch season. In our mind, that's a bonus for all of Independent Baseball because of the attention it will create.

Luke Hochevar, the unsigned first round draftee the Los Angeles Dodgers stand to lose if they have not come to terms with him a week before the June 6-7 draft, will make his first regular season start for the host Cats that night. We had previewed this latest Scott Boras client's status in our Indedependent Baseball Insider column on April 27.

A bevy of scouts (we've heard estimates from 30 to more than 40) were in the stands Monday when Hochevar threw three innings in an exhibition game. He is said to have hit 97 miles an hour. Statistical results were so-so, but the praise seemed to rank the performance much better. The former Tennessee star gave up three hits, walked four and allowed two runs in three innings. He also fanned four.

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