TORONTO — The Blue Jays will move to a closer by committee, general manager Ross Atkins said on Friday, taking Jeff Hoffman out of the role amid his early season struggles.
“In the short term,” Atkins said, “that responsibility will be shared.”
The Jays did not name a new closer, but Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, Braydon Fisher and Mason Fluharty appear most likely to handle the closer duties. Hoffman will still pitch late in games for Toronto, manager John Schneider said, but is no longer tied to the ninth. Hoffman, calmly smiling at his locker ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians, said he was on board with the decision.
“Whatever puts the team in the best position to win,” Hoffman told The Athletic. “Right now, that’s not me there. We can re-evaluate periodically.”
Despite elite strikeout- and walk-rates in 2025, Hoffman was dogged by homers in his first campaign with the Jays. Signed to a three-year, $33 million contract to be Toronto’s closer ahead of last season, Hoffman maintained the ninth-inning job throughout the year, but his struggles with the long-ball culminated in Miguel Rojas’ homer to tie Game 7 of the World Series.
Hoffman has allowed just two homers in 12 appearances this year, but walks and inconsistent command have earned him a 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings. The righty loaded the bases in the ninth in Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels and Varland entered to clean up the frame and secure the victory. The next day, Schneider told reporters in Anaheim that the Jays would discuss the closer role over Thursday’s off day. The manager informed Hoffman early on Friday that they were moving to a closer-by-committee situation.
“Schneider runs a great ship here,” Hoffman said. “Whatever he’s feeling or he wants to say, he has the right to do that. It was good.”
Hoffman is striking out 42.1 percent of batters this year, one of the best marks in baseball, while posting his lowest hard-hit rate since 2023. His expected ERA (3.36) signals he should be much better than his first 12 outings going forward. Schneider said the Jays believe the solution for Hoffman’s struggles comes down to pitch selection and getting ahead in counts. The righty’s zone rate, or the number of pitches he’s throwing in the strike zone, is just 41 percent. That’s 7.4 percent lower than last year and easily the lowest mark of his entire career. It’s not shocking that he’s walking batters more than ever.
The Jays have plenty of bright spots in the bullpen so far this year. Varland has yet to allow an earned run in 13 innings, Rogers has allowed just one run and Fisher has a 2.25 ERA. With Hoffman’s early struggles in the ninth, though, the Jays have blown the second-most saves in baseball (seven) and own the eighth-worst bullpen ERA (4.81).
Toronto hopes taking Hoffman out of the closer role, at least for a bit, helps get him right and turns the bullpen back into a collective weapon.
“Let’s take the ninth inning off of it and share that for a little bit,” Schneider said. “We’ll see how that goes. Kind of just get some momentum going the other way.”
