Blue Jays fans can't deny this unorthodox John Schneider strategy has delivered positive results

Coming into the 2026 season the Toronto Blue Jays had fully backed the idea of Jeff Hoffman being the closer. Even though there were early indications that picking up someone that could rival him for the job was on their "to-do" list in the offseason, they back tracked right before the season began, insisting that they never seriously looked for another closer on the market or via trade. The only real move to bolster the back end of the bullpen was picking up Tyler Rogers, the soft-throwing, ultra-submarine hurler.

The Blue Jays then had to pay the price early for not doing more as Hoffman just couldn't lock things down on a regular basis in the ninth inning. Over his first 12 games, Hofmann registered a 7.56 ERA and 3.26 FIP. He had allowed 11 runs (nine earned) while giving up 16 its in 10.2 innings. The most baffling part was that he had racked up 24 strikeouts over that same time frame, but also allowed a .609 BABIP.

On Apr. 24 he was removed as the closer. But Blue Jays manager John Schneider said they weren't going to have one designated closer and instead were going to move to a "closer by committee" scenario.

The early part of that plan involved Louis Varland being used exclusively to save games, but over the last little while that plan really has taken on a committee persona. The latest example came during Wednesday's win (May 27) over the Miami Marlins in Toronto. The Blue Jays held on to a 2-1 win, using Hoffman in the sixth and seventh innings, with Varland taking over in the eighth and Rogers shutting things down in the ninth.

It was the 20th save of Rogers' career, his first since 2024 when he registered one save as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Rogers has been elite as a set up man for basically the entirety of his career. He's lead the league four times in appearances (including 29 in 2020). Since 2021, Rogers has a 9.4 bWAR with a 2.71 ERA in 402.1 innings pitched, with 278 strikeouts, a 1.09 WHIP and a 3.35 FIP.

Those are numbers from a guy you should be able to trust to get outs no matter when you call on him and that's exactly how Schneider utilized his committee on Wednesday against the Marlins.

The committee closes the door, and remain a real strength for the club

With the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the sixth and two out Heriberto Hernández on first, Schneider brought in Hoffman to try and get out of the inning. Hoffman has had some trouble lately controlling the running game and Hernández promptly took off, getting the go-ahead run in scoring position. But a few pitchers later Hoffman executed a perfect pick off that caught Hernández between second and third. Hernández decided to take off and Hoffman threw the ball to Kazuma Okamoto at third base to tag Hernández out to end the inning.

After Okamoto hit a home run in the bottom half to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead, Hoffman came back out for the seventh inning. Despite allowing two hits, he also got two strikeouts and catcher Tyler Heineman managed to throw out another base runner when Esteury Ruiz tried to swipe second base.

With the 3-4-5 hitters due up, Schneider turned to Varland in the eighth. Varland, who has already been worth 1.6 bWAR this season and has 40 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched worked around back-to-back single to get a force out at second base, a strikeout and a runner was thrown out at second thanks again to Heineman who threw out four base runners in total in this game.

The 7-8-9 hitters were due up in the ninth and it was Rogers' turn. He pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning to collect the save and give the Blue Jays the series win and put them at 27-29 overall on the year.

The plan was executed flawlessly by Schneider and his committee on Wednesday. The trio have also been incredibly effective since the role changes were announced. In 13 games, Varland has a 0.66 ERA, with 21 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched and six saves. Hoffman has also pitched in 13 games and his ERA is 2.92 over that time frame with two saves and 16 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched. Rogers had a tough outing on Monday where he allowed three runs to the Marlins, but prior to that he had a 2.45 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 11 innings.

It's a rare strategy to be able to utilize a combination of three guys in varying save situations, but give credit where credit is due. None of Hoffman, Varland nor Rogers seem to really care about who gets the last out, as long as it's someone wearing a Blue Jays jersey. In a year that's been defined by pitching injuries, this seems to be an area of the pitching staff that now has everything figured out.

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