Toronto Blue Jays New Star Reliever Has Been Best Move of Offseason So Far

The Toronto Blue Jays made an incredible move with their risky deal for their new star out of the bullpen.

Apr 16, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) pitches to the Atlanta Braves during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays have been a nice surprise to start the season before they had lost five games in a row headed into a series on the road against the New York Yankees.

After winning the first game of the series on Friday with a dramatic comeback in the Bronx, perhaps the Blue Jays are going to be able to get back on the right track.

In order to do that, they will need not only the lineup to get back and stay on track as well as continued strong performances from the starting rotation.

However, they will also need the bullpen firing on all cylinders in order to preserve victories and rack up as many as possible in order to make a real playoff push.

While the unit as a whole has been right around average to start the year ranked 14th in baseball with a collective 3.59 ERA, one of the additions from the offseason has quickly turned into one of the best relievers in the league.

When Toronto handed out a three-year deal worth $33 million for Jeff Hoffman after his first All-Star season for the Philadelphia Phillies, they received some pushback.

After the signing, it came out that other teams had deals in place with him which fell through due to the fact that he did not pass several physical exams due to a nagging shoulder issue.

While Hoffman will have to continue to stay healthy, the early returns have been absolutely incredible.

Through the first 12 appearances of his Blue Jays career after stepping into the closer role for Toronto, Hoffman has pitched to a 1.35 ERA and allowed just eight hits and two runs in 13.1 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts.

With a ridiculous 0.675 WHIP and just one total walk on the year, Hoffman has a laughable ERA+ of 300 with six saves already.

He is on pace for the best year of his career in virtually every statistical category even after a decade of very solid play both for the Phillies and Colorado Rockies.

Hoffman has stepped right into the role vacated by Jordan Romano and instantly become not just an upgrade, but a star as well.

If the Blue Jays are going to get back to the postseason coming off a rough 2024 season, Hoffman's emergence is going to be a huge reason as to why.

Whether or not he can keep up this level of play will go a long way towards determining what the ceiling is for a Toronto team which overall has been a bit tough to gauge through the first month of the year.