3 closer alternatives Blue Jays must try after Jeff Hoffman's latest meltdown

At this time of year baseball really is all about "what have you done for me lately?" and when that question is posed to Jeff Hoffman, the Toronto Blue Jays closer can't give an answer that warrants much confidence.

Hoffman was having a good month of August until the last seven days in which he's given up runs, walked batters and has had his average fastball velocity start to dip with each outing. He's allowed four home runs, eight earned runs and eight hits since August 23. He's also walked nine batters in 11 innings this month, although five of those came in one game, on August 10 against the Dodgers. The latest disappointing outing came on Saturday when he entered in a 1-1 tie and gave up two home runs to the Brewers, while allowing three earned runs as Milwaukee took the game 4-1.

3 closer alternatives Blue Jays must try after Jeff Hoffman's latest meltdown

Those home runs Hoffman allowed to the Brewers were the 13th and 14th home runs he has given up in the 9th inning or later this season, which is an unceremonious record to bestow on a player who was hoping to lead the back end of a bullpen that was trying to capture the AL East division title.

The Blue Jays, who had a five game lead over the Yankees in that race just last weekend, are now only two games ahead of the Bronx Bombers with a massive series coming up at Yankee Stadium next week.

While Hoffman will likely still be the closer for Toronto when that series begins, it may be time for Manager John Schneider to see if anyone else can start to lock down that role. One option would have possibly been Yimi Garcia - but it was announced on Saturday that he would have season ending elbow surgery. Other internal options could include Yariel Rodriguez, Brendon Little, and Tommy Nance, but all of them come with some huge questions marks and risks.

Rodriguez, like Hoffman, was having a fantastic first half of the year. In his first 39 appearances of the season, Rodriguez was 2-0 with one save, pitching to a 2.47 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched.

Hitters had just a .176 batting average against and .267 OBP versus Rodriguez in those 39 games. However, August has not been kind to Rodriguez. He has an ERA of 8.00 with eight earned runs in just nine innings pitched. He had given up just seven earned runs in 35 appearances from May-July.

The left hander Little has seen his numbers rise as well over the last month and a bit. His first half stats show a 2.03 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched. Hitters had a slash line of just .177/.305/.234 against him. In his last 19 outings though, those numbers have risen to .240/.381/.380, giving up 10 earned runs in 14 innings.

It could be part of the fact that Little leads the league with 64 appeareances which is a career high and his 58.1 innings pitched are the most he's ever thrown at the major league level.

Nance is a 34-year-old career journey man who is having the best year of his career for Toronto right now. In his 21 innings, Nance has an ERA of 0.86, he's given up just five runs (two earned) with 24 strikeouts and just five walks and 13 hits. Nance has never really been a closer at any level he has played with just 15 saves in eight seasons of minor league baseball and none at the major league level.

He's also mostly pitched in low leverage situations with Toronto - and it would be a major shift to go from Hoffman to Nance at this point of the season.

But the Blue Jays don't have a lot of options right now. They added relievers at the deadline in Seranthony Dominguez and Louis Varland but neither of them have really acclimated themselves very well yet to being in Toronto with Varland giving up seven earned runs in 10 innings and Dominguez giving up nine (five earned), also in ten innings.

It simply comes down to the fact that Toronto needs Hoffman to figure it out or they may be forced to watch their AL East division championship dreams slip away right before their eyes.