Billings' Jordan Hovey Signed by Royals

As Jordan Hovey made the eight-plus hour drive home from Ohio, the Edwardsville High School graduate and former prep All-American had a decision to make.

What was next?

At 23 years old, Hovey wasn’t ready to count himself out.

Hovey’s bet paid off in a big way recently, as he signed a professional contract with the Kansas City Royals organization.

“It’s extremely surreal,” Hovey said. “The events leading up to this moment is still pretty amazing. It’s shocking. It’s everything I could have dreamed of and more. I couldn’t be happier to be a Kansas City Royal.”

Hovey is currently in Surprise, Arizona, at Kansas City’s spring training site.

As of Wednesday, Hovey was unsure what was next. He was waiting for his assignment.

It’s been a hectic 30 days for Hovey, who was cut from the Lake Erie Crushers, of the Frontier League, the day before the start of the 2021 season.

“I was driving home for eight hours and thinking what was next and if I was going to play baseball anywhere this summer,” Hovey said. “To be in Arizona not even 30 days later, it’s crazy. It’s been a long month but the best of my life. It’s been a roller-coaster.”

Before Arizona, though, Hovey made a detour to Billings.

Playing for the Billings Mustangs in the Pioneer League, Hovey. a left-handed hitting infielder, appeared in nine games and hit .500 (17 for 34) with three home runs and nine RBIs. He had a .614 on-base percentage and a .941 slugging percentage.

“I had a great experience there. It was awesome,” Hovey said. “I played for some great coaches. I played in front of 3,000 to 4,000 fans each night. The fans were amazing. They brought a ton of energy to the ballpark.”

The Kansas City Royals took notice.

“I got the message from my coach that he wanted to see me and he gave me the news. It kind of went from there,” Hovey said.

Asked how the Royals found about Hovey, the EHS grad said, “I’m not 100 percent. I’m not sure it was my numbers or word of mouth. I thought about asking but I’m not. I’m just going to be happy.”

Hovey’s baseball career has made many stops since playing for the Tigers.

At Edwardsville, Hovey was an All-State and All-Southwestern Conference selection after batting .382 with a team-high 11 home runs, including three games with two homers. He also led the Tigers in doubles with 12 and was second with 32 RBIs. He was one of three players from Illinois named a Louisville Slugger All-American after helping EHS to a 35-2 record.

After playing one season at Missouri State and Jefferson Community College, Hovey played for the Creighton Bluejays. He graduated in 2019.

Following graduation, Hovey played for the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association, an Independent team, in 2019 before returning to Creighton.

“I went back to Omaha and worked as a grad assistant while working on my master’s,” Hovey said. “That was pretty cool.”

Hovey was going to return to play baseball and play for Lake Erie in 2020, but the season was canceled due to the coronavirus. He came back to Edwardsville and worked with the Gators Baseball Academy.

Hovey did get the opportunity to play 14 games for the Utica Unicorns, of the United Shore League, towards the end of the summer.

For all the places the game took over, Hovey said his desire to play never lessened.

“Since I was a kid, baseball has been the thing I love the most. It’s been my passion. I’ve been lucky to know what my passion was since I was young,” Hovey said. “it’s been challenging, though. I hated feeling bad sometimes telling people I was playing Independent baseball and they would start giving me a hard time about it. I knew it was what I wanted to do and I knew I had much more to give.

“It was a no-brainer to keep going. To keep going, working hard and proving to myself that I could do more kept me going.”