KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City Monarchs signed seven-year MLB veteran pitcher JJ Hoover Monday afternoon.
Hoover has played for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers before spending 2019 with the Fresno Grizzlies – a Washington Nationals’ triple-A club—and opting for free agency after the 2019 season.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to sign a player of JJ’s caliber, there is great excitement throughout the organization,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said. “Bringing in another player with major league experience only makes us stronger on and off the field.”
The 33-year-old righty was drafted in the 10th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves and was a Baseball America Triple-A All-Star for the Louisville Bats in 2013.
He made his MLB debut August 25, 2012, with the Reds against the San Francisco Giants in a relief appearance. He threw one inning where he faced four batters, giving up a walk and no hits.
Hoover ultimately threw 285 innings across 290 games as a major league pitcher. He recorded a 19-21 record, a 4.17 ERA, 44 holds and six saves against big-league competition. He was a bullpen arm for his entire time in the majors.
The Pittsburgh-native finished his MLB career on April 10, 2018, and was assigned to the triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox the next day. He went to spring training with the Nationals the next year but was assigned to Fresno for the season where he made 16 starts pitched to a .500 record.
Hoover’s most recent work came in Australia with the Canberra Cavalry in 2019 where he was 4-2 with a 3.81 ERA across nine starts.
Kansas City will have an off-day on Monday before continuing its nine-game homestand on Tuesday night against Gary SouthShore. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:40 p.m. and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.
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