Clayton Kershaw's historic night yet another reminder of what KC Royals missed out on

It was a historic night in the baseball world last night, as one of MLB's all-time greats etched his name into the record books once again on Wednesday.

Clayton Kershaw recorded his 3,000th career strikeout, becoming just the 20th pitcher in MLB history to achieve such a feat, in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Dodgers Stadium. It marked yet another stunning accomplishment on what's been undoubtedly a Hall-of-Fame resume.

While it's hard not to feel good about watching history unfold from one of the best to ever to do it, for Kansas City Royals fans, as cool as the moment may be in the grand scheme of things, it also served as another reminder of what the Kansas City Royals missed out on nearly 20 years ago in the MLB draft.

Clayton Kershaw's 3,000 strikeouts another reminder of what KC Royals could've had in the 2006 MLB Draft

In the 2006 MLB Draft, the Kansas City Royals held the first overall pick for the first (and only) time in franchise history.

In that draft the Royals used their opening selection to select the right-hander from Tennessee, Luke Hochevar, who ironically enough was previously drafted by the Dodgers twice back in 2002 and then again in 2005.

Hochevar was undoubtedly a talented collegiate arm coming off a great SEC season in 2005 as a Volunteer, pitching to a 2.26 ERA with 154 strikeouts in 139.2 innings across 19 starts. On paper, this isn't a bad pick.

However, if we play the "what if" game, it's hard not to look down the board at the Dodgers' seventh overall pick of Kershaw and not feel the Royals missed out here.

Again, this isn't a harp on the Royals pick, as it doesn't constitute as bust by any means - and the Royals know a thing or two about draft busts. However, Hochevar didn't nearly have the major league impact for the Royals that Kershaw has had on the Dodgers.

Hochevar made a positive impact on the Royals during his major league career, pitching nine years for the club. The first six were almost entirely lackluster years as a starter, but where things clicked for him was in 2013 when he shifted to the bullpen.

That year he tossed to a 1.92 ERA in 70.1 innings of relief. He would miss 2014 due to Tommy John surgery, but he would return to the 'pen in 2015, pitching to a sub-4.00 ERA as a key fixture in their World Champion relief corps. In 10.2 postseason innings, Hochevar would throw to a 0.00 ERA with a 0.66 WHIP.

He'd follow that up with another respectable sub-4.00 ERA campaign in 2016, before going down for the season with thoracic outlet syndrome. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the line for Hochevar, as he never pitched professionally after that.

The fact he played an impact on a championship team will always help his case on whether or not he was worth being the number one overall pick.

But when you stack that up against the surefire Hall-of-Fame career Kershaw has crafted, it's not even a debate that, while Hochevar may not have been a bust, the Royals missed out big-time on not taking Kershaw.

This is an 18-year MLB veteran who's a World Series champion, former NL MVP, 3-time Cy Young award winner, former pitching Triple Crown winner and 10-time All-Star. Bottom line, if you name the accolade, Kershaw probably has it.

And he holds a career record 216-94 in 2787.1 innings across 441 regular season appearances with a stat line of a 2.52 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 1.01 WHIP and .208 BAA.

The saying goes, there's no point crying over spilled milk. What's done is done. And a World Series title in 2015 with Hochevar playing a key role definitely makes missing out on Kershaw easier for Royals fans to palate.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't eliminate the sting that yet another major Kershaw accolade gives, as it serves as another painful reminder of what could've been for Kansas City.