TORONTO -- Jeff Hoffman doesn’t save games, he wins them.
The Blue Jays’ new closer already has his own signature outing. He’ll pitch the ninth inning, then come back out for the 10th to keep the door locked for the Blue Jays to win it in extras. He’s already done this three times in the first month of the season.
Hoffman did it again Wednesday against the Red Sox, striking out three over two flawless innings before the Blue Jays walked it off for his third win of the season. Yes, the closer leads the team in wins right now. He’s also got six saves to go with a 1.17 ERA, 0.59 WHIP and 22 strikeouts through 15 1/3 innings.
“On a scale of one to 10 in terms of trust? It’s probably a 300,” manager John Schneider said.
We’re witnessing true dominance from Hoffman right now. Yes, it’s early, but early is all we have to work with as April flips to May, and this already looks like one of the best moves this front office has made in years.
If Hoffman continues down this path, 2025 could land among the best seasons from a reliever in Blue Jays history, right up there with Tom Henke’s great run through the late ‘80s or Duane Ward’s peak years from the late ‘80s into the early ‘90s. Mark Eichhorn’s incredible 1986 season still leads all Blue Jays relievers in fWAR (4.9), but the 157 innings he threw that season are difficult to compare to the modern closer.
Instead, B.J. Ryan feels like the best example. When the Blue Jays handed Ryan a five-year, $47 million contract in 2005, it was the biggest deal ever handed to a reliever, and his first season with the organization was brilliant. The lefty posted a 1.37 ERA with 38 saves while striking out 86 over 72 1/3 innings. He didn’t just put up closer’s numbers, he really felt like a closer. He’d run in with flames shooting up the video boards behind him, strike out a few batters and let the whole stadium know it as he walked off the mound.
This is who Hoffman can be. He still needs to maintain this and stay healthy -- which Ryan struggled to do later in that contract -- but those are variables every reliever faces. Through one month, you can easily make the argument that Hoffman has been the best player on the Blue Jays and single-handedly stolen a couple of wins. In a season that feels like it will come down to the wire in a crowded, clunky American League, that’s incredibly valuable.
The Blue Jays knew Hoffman would be good when they handed him a three-year, $33 million deal this offseason to replace Jordan Romano. He’s made some subtle changes to take himself from good to great, though, and it’s all orbiting around his splitter. Besides, it feels like the Blue Jays are the splitter team. If you come here, you’d better throw one.
Hoffman has jacked his splitter usage up from 12% to 27.8% this season and it’s working.
“Coming in, I didn’t know how it would go,” Hoffman said. “I know my splitter is a good pitch and I believe in it, but I also know how good my slider has been over the past few years. It was hard for me to say, ‘OK, let’s do this.’ At the same time, we’re not trying to take anything away from the slider. If anything, we’ll take fastballs away.”
If anything, it’s made his slider better. Unlocking his splitter has unlocked something else.
The simple version is this: Hoffman is throwing his slider a bit harder in 2025, up from 86.8 mph to 88.3 mph. That naturally takes away a couple inches of movement, but it’s getting on hitters quicker and they’ve been baffled by it. He’s getting a whopping 60% whiff rate on his slider, up from 45.2% a year ago, making it one of the best “out” pitches in baseball. A more even distribution of pitches between his heater, splitter and slider only helps Hoffman here. Hitters can’t stand up there and guess.
Now, the Blue Jays need to hand Hoffman some 4-1 leads, classic save situations for him to mow through on 10 pitches. He’s already proven that he’s capable of so much more, though. Many closers can clean up a game at the end, but a select few can change the game completely. Hoffman is suddenly forcing his way into that elite group.