Jeff Hoffman Has Been Major Bright Spot for Blue Jays This Season

The Toronto Blue Jays have a nice bright spot in Jeff Hoffman closing out games for them.

May 2, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

It’s been a season of ups and downs so far for the Toronto Blue Jays, but they find themselves in a bit of a rut as of late.

Despite a good winter on paper, the Blue Jays have not lived up to expectations so far in 2025, and find themselves a few games under the .500 mark.

There have been a fair share of disappointments in terms of the new players that they brought in this winter.

Starting pitcher Max Scherzer appeared in just one game before injuring his thumb. After three innings of work, he has been on the injured list ever since.

In addition to Scherzer being a poor signing so far, so has the addition of Anthony Santander.

The switch-hitting slugger totaled 44 home runs last year, but is slashing just .180/.267/.331 with five home runs so far. While he has been a slow starter in previous campaigns, Toronto needs him to get going.

While those two signings haven’t been great so far, one move has been.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently spoke about the strong performance of free-agent signing Jeff Hoffman and the positive impact he has had on the team this season.

“If the Blue Jays are going to hang around in the playoff hunt, Hoffman is going to be a massive piece of that puzzle.”

Despite a couple of strong years with the Philadelphia Phillies, Hoffman hit free agency this winter and had a bit of an interesting offseason. While there was some speculation he might transition to a starter, he ended up staying in the bullpen for Toronto, and that has worked out well.

So far this campaign, he has totaled a 2.70 ERA and has saved seven games.

As an All-Star in 2024, the right-hander can be a great reliever in the Majors. For the Blue Jays, while other signings have struggled, it has been Hoffman who has been a massive bright spot.

For the most part, pitching hasn’t been the issue for Toronto, it has been the lineup that has disappointed.

This is a franchise that has a lot of talent in the batting order, but some slow starts from good players have resulted in struggles.

With the AL East being a challenging division, the Blue Jays can ill afford to get too far behind the New York Yankees.

If the team is going to turn things around, they fortunately have a good closer to lean on. However, it has to be the lineup that starts to get hot and give him some more chances.