K.J. Hockaday
K.J. Hockaday had an opportunity to be a star for the Terrapins baseball team this season.
After a dominant summer — a .346 batting average, 11 doubles, a triple, a home run and 36 RBIs — Baseball America ranked the 6-foot-3, 222-pound third baseman as the No. 1 overall prospect coming out of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League.
That wasn’t the first time Hockaday received national recognition, either. The Baltimore Orioles drafted the Joppa native in the 14th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft after a historic high school career at The John Carroll School. He batted .642 his senior year for the Patriots and broke New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association career home run record with 30 home runs.
All signs pointed to a breakout 2013 campaign for the sophomore slugger, especially after a freshman season in which Hockaday batted .305 with 27 RBIs and started all 56 games under former coach Erik Bakich. An anchor in the middle of the lineup for the Terps — who start a three-game series at Duke today in Durham, N.C. — he was supposed to be a force.
But this season, he has struggled to log consistent playing time.
Hockaday — who is batting .293 with 14 RBIs — suffered a shoulder injury during the series opener against North Carolina on April 5, and he was left out of the starting lineup for six games. He returned to third base in the Terps’ 7-2 win over Miami on April 14, but that was the last time he set foot on the field for the Terps.
Coach John Szefc suspended Hockaday for the two midweek contests against Virginia Commonwealth and Mount St. Mary’s as well as the weekend series against Virginia Tech for “a violation of team rules” that remains undisclosed.
It didn’t stop there, though. After the 2-1 series loss to the Hokies, Szefc said Hockaday would be “suspended indefinitely” due to further violations. The sophomore has now missed seven games due to suspension, and that number is only going to grow as the Terps prepare for their final three ACC series.
“He’s just not obeying team policy,” Szefc said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
And with the decimating onslaught of injuries this season, Hockaday’s absence has been even more detrimental. Originally, Szefc turned to utility infielder Jose Cuas at third base, but a knee injury to starting second baseman Kyle Convissar in Game 2 of the Miami series has forced Cuas to fill that hole instead.
Szefc’s only option at the hot corner is catcher Kevin Martir, who last played third base in high school.
While Martir might be able to mirror Hockaday’s offensive production — the freshman is batting .299 with 16 RBIs and 41 hits — he has struggled on defense. In six starts at third base, Martir has four errors, not to mention several crucial misplays that put more pressure on a young pitching staff.
“It’s not your ideal defensive lineup,” Szefc said. “But you do what you have to do.”
While Martir can’t totally replace Hockaday’s defense or complete offensive production, Szefc highlighted the freshman’s daily effort. The infield depth might be thinning out, but there’s still talent for the Terps to turn to this weekend.
“Kevin plays as hard as anybody we have,” Szefc said. “So I have no problem with Kevin’s effort and what he does. I always know I’m going to get a lot of effort out of Kevin Martir, whether he’s catching, playing third, DH-ing or whatever. Those are the kind of guys [I want]. I can deal with a guy like that.”
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