ST. PETERSBURG -- Royals reliever Luke Hochevar had surgery on Tuesday relating to his recent diagnosis with thoracic outlet syndrome. The surgery was performed in St. Louis by specialist Robert Thompson.
Hochevar's season is thus over. He is expected to recover in six months, in time for Spring Training.
Royals officials said Hochevar underwent a scalenectomy, a surgical procedure that divides or removes a portion of the anterior and/or middle scalene muscle. Hochevar also had a rib resection of an upper rib.
The procedures are done to relieve nerve pressure, a common symptom of thoracic outlet syndrome.
Hochevar, 33, finishes the season 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 40 games. But in his last 12 outings, when he began to experience numbness in his fingers and hand, opponents had a .310 batting average against him and his ERA was 7.84.
Hochevar has a mutual option for 2017, but the Royals never have exercised a mutual option under this regime, so he all but certainly will become a free agent this fall. There is a $500,000 buyout to his contract.