LAKEWOOD - There were times last season that Matt Hockenberry said he would just look into the dugout and wonder if his manager would be taking him out. The former Temple ace struggled in his first season with single-A Lakewood.
"I would go out there and get maybe one or two outs," Hockenberry said. "Then when it would rain, it would pour. Guys would be running around the bases and I'd just be standing there."
The righthander was pitching last season as a reliever with a starter's mind-set. The results showed. He allowed 14 earned runs last season in 131/3 innings with Lakewood.