Blue Jays fans are beyond breaking point with Jeff Hoffman

Just when it looked like the Jeff Hoffman issues were behind them, the Toronto Blue Jays were faced with another gut wrenching loss at the hands of their former closer who was trying to close out a game. On Saturday (May 30) with the Blue Jays ahead 5-1, the Baltimore Orioles staged a bottom of the ninth comeback, scoring five runs en route to a 6-5 walk off victory.

It's the third blown save by Hoffman this year, his first since April 14. But that's mostly because he was removed from the closers role following a few other bad outings that weren't technically save situations, but still outings in which the Blue Jays needed Hoffman to be better in.

The Blue Jays opted for a "closer by committee" approach at the end of April and that approached has largely worked for the month of May. Hoffman himself seemed to respond well to not having to be the closer every game. He posted a 2.84 ERA with a 1.64 FIP in 12.2 innings, while striking out 17 batters in 13 games. He also picked up two saves, three holds and was 3-1 in those outings.

But all that good will that he started to build up with the fans, and perhaps the Blue Jays coaching staff, came to a crashing halt on Saturday. Hoffman got the inning started by striking out Samuel Basallo. But then he hit Coby Mayo, Lody Taveras tripled, Jackson Holliday singled, Colton Cowser doubled, and Taylor Ward walked. That still put the Blue Jays in firm position to win the game. It was 5-3 with the bases loaded, they just needed a ground ball.

Instead, hoffman walked Gunner Henderson to bring home a run which put Baltimore down by a run 5-4. Connor Seabold came in to replace Hoffman and he proceeded to walk Adley Rutschman to tie the game, while Pete Alonso delivered a ground ball single to centre to cash in the game winning run.

Where does Hoffman work within the Blue Jays bullpen?

After the game, Schneider says it basically came down to the bullpen's workload over the last little while that lead to Hoffman being ineffective. He told reporters, "We're asking a lot of them, and outings like that happen. It sucks. It is unfortunate when you go into the ninth with the lead, but these guys are all pitching a lot and we’re asking them to cover a lot of innings, asking them cover a lot of high-leverage innings. So, this kind of stuff happens, but they've really put us in this position, I think, to where we've gotten. And it's tough, 17 in a row, you know what I mean?"

On one hand, you have to give the manager credit here. The pitching staff has been ravaged by injuries and ever since Dylan Cease was sidelined last Sunday the Schneider has known that he will likely need to cobble together two bullpen days this week - while also trying to get the Blue Jays some wins in tight games when the offense was only able to muster a couple of runs.

It's been a lot of tight games and while the Blue Jays have been winning them, the cost is the work load on the bullpen and the innings they are being asked to eat.

On the other hand, Hoffman just didn't have anything working after the Basallo strike out and maybe an earlier switch to Seabold would have manufactured a better outcome - but that's a huge maybe. The real issue is two fold - the Blue Jays haven't found a fifth starter, or technically a fourth starter. Really it's an 11th starter.

The Blue Jays have already had 10 guys start games for them this season (including openers such as Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Spencer Miles, and Adam Macko). They are also using double bullpen days in a grueling 17 games in 17 days stretch. Not the ideal situation for any manager to be handed.

The second issue is that there is no clear spot for the Blue Jays to be confident in using Hoffman. In the ninth inning this season, Hoffman has an 8.25 ERA while opponents have hit .302 with a an .875 OPS. He's allowed 16 hits in 14 ninth inning appearances. His best inning has technically been the seventh. He's pitched seven times in the seventh to a 2.70 ERA with 10 strikeouts, while in five eighth inning appearances, he's accumulated a 7.20 ERA while hitters have touched him up for a .300 average and .864 OPS.

Schneider is going to have to keep using Hoffman, whether the fans like it or not. He's owed $11 million per year this season and next and he has shown flashes of being able to be an effective part of a bullpen. The problem is, at this point, you're not sure which Hoffman is going to come out of the 'pen and that can cause all kinds of issues for a team that is trying to get back into the postseason.

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