Jeff Hoffman, historically, hasn't been the cleanest reliever in the ninth inning during his time with the Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays injury concerns have been well-documented this season. There are no less than a total of five pitchers that are starters or high-leverage relievers that are dealing with injuries.
Starters Jose Berrios, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber all went down during spring training and fellow starter Cody Ponce went down during the season. High-leverage right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia has been rehabbing from offseason surgery.
Yesavage seems one-to-two rehab starts away from returning to the rotation. However, with the injuries, the performance of right-handed closer has been all the more important.
And the results have been mixed.
In his second season with Toronto, Hoffman has posted a 4.32 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 8.1 innings pitched across nine appearances as of Wednesday. He has a 1-1 record with two saves in five opportunities.
Hoffman has also found him among an unfortunate list in the franchise history of the Blue Jays.
According to a post on "X" from StatsCentre, Hoffman is fifth-all time in Toronto history for ninth inning-ERA (4.52).
Hoffman reached that mark after giving up two earned runs in 0.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. His season ERA also bolstered from a solid 2.35 ERA on the year to his current mark of 4.32.
Hoffman was originally signed to a three-year, $33 million contract before the 2025 season by the Blue Jays.
The 33-year-old right-hander didn't have the cleanest first season for Toronto in '25, but came through more often than not. He had a 4.37 ERA with 84 fanned batters in 68 innings pitched across 71 outings. He posted a 9-7 record and had 33 saves in 40 opportunities.
Hoffman's struggles, combined with the injuries suffered by the pitching staff, have led to bad stats overall for the Blue Jays hurlers.
Toronto's overall ERA is 4.79, which ranks 26th in the major leagues. The organization's starting rotation ERA (5.08) ranks 27th in the big leagues and the bullpen's 4.54 ERA ranks 19th in the major leagues.
The pressure on Hoffman and the rest of the bullpen will likely ease up with the impending return of Hoffman and several of the other injured starters. Ponce could miss the rest of the season due to surgery for an ACL sprain. Garcia's return will also give the team another high leverage option out of the bullpen.
Regardless, it's been rough waters through the first three weeks of the season for the Blue Jays pitchers. And Hoffman and the rest of the staff will need to find a way to keep Toronto above water before the staff gets healthier.
The Blue Jays will next be in action against the Brewers at 7:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Remember to join our BLUE JAYS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Blue Jays fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!