Blue Jays' bullpen bears the weight of endless close games

New York Times

08-05-2025

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Blue Jays' bullpen was a bright spot for the first month of the season. Toronto's relievers ranked 12th in bullpen ERA in April with the league's best strikeout rate.
In close game after close game, the Blue Jays leaned on leverage relievers, turning to Jeff Hoffman, Yimi García and Brendon Little to lock down the late innings. In that first month, the bullpen held up as the offence scuttled. Lately, the burden has weighed too heavily.
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'This is a sh–y stretch,' manager John Schneider said. 'It's a tough stretch. You know, guys are feeling it, but we're in position to win every game.'
The Blue Jays turned to closer Hoffman with a late lead on Wednesday, for the second night in a row. Prior to Toronto's West Coast trip, Hoffman converted all seven of his save attempts with a 1.10 ERA. After Jorge Soler's walk-off double on Wednesday — Hoffman's first blown save of the season — the closer's ERA sits at 4.24. With Yimi García's two blown saves in the last week, the Blue Jays have let three late leads slip away in their last four games to fall to 16-20.
Bases: clearedGame: over
Jorge Soler with a wild #walkoff for the @Angels! pic.twitter.com/hsHW3A5s7z
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2025
It's easy to put this on the late-game relievers — it was García and Hoffman on the mound giving up those runs that turned hopeful wins into losses. But it was that same pair, alongside the lefty Little, who carried the team through close contests in April to keep the Blue Jays near an even record.
Blue Jays relievers have faced the sixth-most batters in high leverage situations over the last month. García has the 14th-most high leverage batters faced since April 7 while Hoffman ranks 20th. It's a heavy load for guys the Blue Jays hope can lock up big innings late into the season.
Toronto has a system using biometric data to evaluate pitchers' health and workloads through the grind of a season. Even when guys feel fine, the data may show they should actually ease off. That's why Little wasn't available on Tuesday despite feeling fresh after an off day. It's harder to navigate that balance with relentless save situations and tight scores. Facing an Angels team that ranks 24th in runs scored and 28th in ERA could've been a shot at extended rest for Toronto's top relievers. Instead, more close games.
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'We've got to find a way to give (García) and Hoff a break,' Schneider said. 'I know we can highlight their performances recently … but we got to have games where they're not pitching. That's kind of just as simple as I can put it.'
Having other relievers step into big spots would help. But the simpler fix is safe leads — more offence.
With a lineup that's scoring just 3.5 runs per game, the Blue Jays haven't won a game by more than three since April 8. All four of Toronto's wins during this 4-12 slide have come by two or fewer runs. Low-scoring, close games are becoming normal. The Blue Jays — and their top relievers — need that to change.
'What I don't want them to do is get used to these one run games and expect guys to be perfect out of the bullpen,' Schneider said.
The Blue Jays added outfielder Jonatan Clase and reliever Braydon Fisher to the big league roster ahead of Wednesday's contest against the Angels. Alan Roden and Dillon Tate were optioned to Buffalo to make room and Steward Berroa was designated for assignment … Max Scherzer also faced live batters for the first time before the game and will do so again in Seattle … Andrés Giménez was removed from Wednesday's contest in the seventh inning with right quad tightness.
(Photo of Jeff Hoffman: Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)