Blue Jays Might Have Foreshadowed Future Closer Plans With Recent Bullpen Move
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Tuesday night's 9-7 10-inning road win for the Toronto Blue Jays over the Milwaukee Brewers had a little bit of everything - an early pitcher's duel between Kevin Gausman and Jacob Misiorowski, lead changes, lots of offense and plenty of late inning excitement.
In fact, probably a little too much late inning excitement for the Blue Jays' liking.
After a ninth inning rally saw Toronto score four runs to take a 6-4 lead, it was up to closer Jeff Hoffman to shut the door on the Brewers. However, in what has become an all-too-familiar scene, the 33-year-old struggled with command (three walks) and was pulled after allowing the two tying runs and leaving the bases loaded with two out.
Brought in to clean up Hoffman's mess was Louis Varland, who quickly got out of the jam by striking out Joey Ortiz on three pitches before securing the win by finishing out the game in the 10th inning.
Could Tuesday's Bullpen Move Be a Sign of Things to Come?
Of course, Tuesday night's game was hardly the first instance where it has seemed the Blue Jays may want to consider a switch in the closer's role. Hoffman regularly experienced roller coaster late-game situations last season, collecting 33 saves but also seven blown saves while doubling his ERA from the previous season (2.17 to 4.37).
Most memorably, Hoffman blew the save in Game 7 of the World Series, allowing a game-tying home run off the bat of Miguel Rojas with just two outs needed to secure a World Series victory for Toronto. Unfortunately, his Game 7 infamy took away from what had been a stellar postseason to that point for the right-hander (two saves, 18 strikeouts and a 1.46 ERA in 10 appearances).
While manager John Schneider has been steadfast in his support for the former Philadelphia Phillies flamethrower, it's getting hard to ignore Hoffman's ongoing struggles and inconsistency - particularly with a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings.
Varland experienced some bumps in the road upon coming over from the Minnesota Twins at the 2025 trade deadline. sporting a 4.94 ERA over 23 regular season appearances before performing only slightly better (3.94 ERA) across 15 postseason appearances. This season, though, the 28-year-old has been lights out.
After Tuesday's appearance, Varland has now pitched in 10 games this season, still without an earned run allowed (he's allowed three unearned runs). His 0.00 ERA has been made possible by a powerful arsenal of pitches that has baffled hitters, resulting in 15 strikeouts in 10.1 innings.
Schneider continues to express confidence in Hoffman, but even he seemed to acknowledge - before the most recent blown save, mind you - that his struggles have made things challenging at times.
It stands to reason that Hoffman will continue to get the ball in the ninth inning of close games, at least for the time being. Still, it was hard not to notice the symbolism on display on Tuesday of one beleaguered pitcher leaving a mess and a rising bullpen arm stepping in to immediately clean it up.
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Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.