With several disastrous outings this season, J.J. Hoover has been removed from the Cincinnati Reds' closer role, manager Bryan Price told reporters, including C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
"I talked to J.J. I told him I'm going to bring you in different situations and sometimes that might be the ninth and sometimes it might be the seventh or eighth," Price said. "He needs to get himself on a roll and start to pitch the way we've seen almost the entire 2015 season."
Hoover excelled as Aroldis Chapman's setup man last year, posting a 2.94 ERA in 67 games. Following Chapman's trade to the New York Yankees this offseason, the 28-year-old became the clear choice to inherit the closer job in Cincinnati.
That experiment has gone poorly this year. Hoover has allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander recorded one save in two chances, although his performance in that outing was suspect (two runs allowed).
Instead of naming a new ninth-inning man, Price indicated that the team will use a closer-by-committee approach until further notice.
"What you're going to see coming out of the bullpen is what you're going to see," Price said. "I can't define roles at this point in time, but that will shake out. As we get toward the end of the month and into May, we'll have a little more clarity as far as roles and things of that nature."
