The Toronto Blue Jays are considering making a change at the back end of the bullpen, as manager John Schneider told reporters that the team will “re-evaluate” Jeff Hoffman’s role as closer on Tuesday following another rough outing for the pitcher.
In Hoffman’s last outing against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, he came on with the Blue Jays leading 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth - and the 33-year-old righty hit two batters and allowed two singles before he was lifted in favour of Louis Varland, who used one pitch to induce a game-ending double play.
“You kind of see after the first hit-by-pitch, your radar goes up,” Schneider said to reporters before Wednesday’s matinee. “And after the second one, it was kind of like, ‘All right, let’s figure this out here.’ Closers always get magnified, so we’ll talk about it.”
The outing was Hoffman’s third difficult one in his past four tries. Hoffman served up a tie-breaking grand slam to Corbin Carroll in the eighth inning of an eventual 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, and he took a blown save after allowing two earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers his last outing before that.
In the other outing, Hoffman locked down the save on Monday by striking out the side. When he’s been good this year, he’s been excellent, but there have been too many outings in which Hoffman has struggled.
In 12 outings this year, Hoffman has three blown saves (tied for the league lead), two losses, and has gotten the job done in just three of seven save situations. He has an elite 24 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched, but the earned-run average of 7.59 leaves a lot to be desired out of the closer’s role. Hoffman has only made two appearances so far where he didn’t allow a baserunner.
“He’s going through it, obviously, a little bit,” Schneider said on Wednesday. “So we’ll see. Use the off-day [on Thursday] to talk about it with him.”
“[I will] talk with him, continue to show support for him - like I’m always going to do, no matter what the outcome - and try to put him in spots to have success,” Schneider said. “He’s a big boy. He understands that the spotlight’s on a little bit, and rightfully so. So it’s like, ‘How can we be there to support you? How can we help you get ahead of hitters? Is it mechanical? Is it between the ears a little bit? What’s going on here, and how can we help?’”
Those comments are a bit of a change in tone from what Schneider and the team have said up to this point in the season and going back to last year. Hoffman - who was brought in last season on a three-year, $33 million deal - finished last season with a 4.37 ERA and 33 saves, and though he was spectacular throughout the postseason, his run will be most remembered for allowing a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth of inning of Game 7 of the World Series for a blown save in a game the Blue Jays would eventually lose.
“There may be people that don’t want to hear this, but I’ve got a lot of trust and confidence in Jeff Hoffman, and I’ve said that for as long as he’s been here,” Schneider said after Saturday’s game. “We all believe in him. We all love him,” pitcher Max Scherzer added after that game. “We all believe he’s going to figure it out and get big outs for us. That’s never going to change.”
If the Blue Jays do decide to make a change, the 28-year-old Varland represents an enticing option to take over after securing his first career save in Tuesday’s game. The hard-throwing righty has not allowed an earned run in 12 appearances on the young season, and has 19 strikeouts over 13.0 innings pitched.
“With Louis, you’re obviously comfortable,” Schneider said on Wednesday. “If you need him in the ninth, you could use him in the ninth. But sometimes the game could be won or lost in the eighth, top of the order. How do you weigh where to use Louis?”
Other options include Braydon Fisher and Tyler Rogers, as those three pitchers have combined to allow just four earned runs in 35.1 innings this season out of the bullpen, though the three of them have combined for 20 career saves in the majors.
The Blue Jays return home from a nine-game road trip to open a series against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.
