The D-backs and right-hander J.J. Hoover have agreed to a minor league contract, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links). The Ballengee Group client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and has a $900K base salary on his deal. He can also earn up to $425K worth of incentives.
Hoover, 29, opened the season as the favorite for the ninth-inning gig in Cincinnati last year, but he quickly fell out of favor after a rough start. Hoover blew his first save opp of the season and was tagged for 16 earned runs over his next 8 1/3 innings before being optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Hoover looked to have righted the ship a bit upon returning in mid-June, but he stumbled yet again and was optioned a second time before ultimately being outrighted off the 40-man roster. All told, Hoover rounded out the year with a 13.50 ERA in 18 1/3 innings.
While that number is obviously jarring, Hoover did have a nice track record with the Reds before his troublesome 2016 campaign, and he pitched well in his time at Triple-A Louisville. Hoover logged a 3.52 ERA and a 50-to-11 K/BB ratio in 38 1/3 minor league innings this year. And, prior to 2016, he’d notched a 3.34 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 in 223 2/3 career innings with Cincinnati.
Hoover will join a crowded but unsettled bullpen mix with the D-backs and compete for a job in Spring Training. If he wins a spot in the ’pen and rebounds from his disastrous 2016 results, the Snakes will be able to control him through the 2019 season via the arbitration process.
Good luck to JJ! After a fluke nightmarish 2016 season he looks like a real comeback candidate. It’s rare to see a guy so abruptly and significantly lose… ‘it’… without an explanation.
I hope he wins a spot in the Dbacks bullpen!
Anibal sanchez
This is the sneaky type of singing that can really pay off
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Wish I wasn’t on mobile so I could ^1 this, good work.
Control issues + lots of fly balls = Major problems at Chase Field. Mix that w/ Mike Butcher as your pitching coach. That is a problem. I thought Butcher would be the 1st guy to get his walking papers. I don’t hold out much hope for the Dbacks pen again this season, but if Hoover breaks camp w/ the big boys…yikes.
Man, you’re such a bundle of positivity. No rave reviews from you on this signing.
Hoover vacuum cleaners and J.J. Hoover’s 2016 year have one big thing in common.
They both suck.