Blue Jays Sticking with Hoffman Despite Recent Struggles
Jeff Hoffman remains the Blue Jays’ closer despite his recent rough patch. The $33 million offseason acquisition has seen his ERA balloon to 5.79 after a disastrous stretch of outings.
Hoffman’s season has been a tale of two vastly different performances. He posted a sparkling 1.10 ERA through his first 14 appearances before things went sideways. In his last nine outings, he’s been tagged with a 16.79 ERA, though he did manage a scoreless inning Monday night against Texas.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider isn’t hitting the panic button yet.
“Just in talking with him, he’s in a good spot,” Schneider told reporters. “I think that, you know, the life of a reliever and a high-leverage reliever is bumpy.”
The underlying numbers suggest Hoffman’s struggles might be more bad luck than bad pitching. He’s striking out a career-high 13.7 batters per nine innings while maintaining virtually the same walk rate as last year when he was an All-Star with the Phillies.
What’s killing Hoffman is the long ball. He’s already surrendered five homers in just 22.1 innings of work. That’s where the statistics offer some hope.
Nearly 30 percent of Hoffman’s fly balls have left the yard this season – an unsustainably high number. Over the past three years, his home run per fly ball rate was just 6.8 percent, well below the league average of 8.5 percent. That suggests a correction is coming.
The timing of Hoffman’s potential turnaround matters for Toronto. At 26-27, the Blue Jays are hovering around .500 and could use their high-priced closer to start slamming the door again. If the statistical correction happens soon, it could help stabilize a bullpen that’s been inconsistent through the season’s first two months.
For now, Schneider and the Blue Jays are betting on Hoffman’s track record and underlying metrics rather than the recent results.
