The Jeff Hoffman honeymoon is over for the Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays' season hasn't exactly gone as planned. While there have been some big letdowns across the roster, one area that looked like an undeniable win for the front office was the signing of right-hander Jeff Hoffman to be the team's new closer.

That is, until this past week.

After an incredible first month of the season, Hoffman, who's in the first year of a three-year, $33 million deal, was the toast of the town. Unfortunately, the regression monster came for the 32-year-old and showed no mercy as he got pummeled in back-to-back outings on the West Coast.

Jeff Hoffman's rough series ends the honeymoon for the Blue Jays' closer

In his two appearances against the Los Angeles Angels, Hoffman allowed six earned runs on six hits while walking one with a single strikeout. He registered just one out in each appearance.

On Tuesday, he picked up where Yimi García left off in the eighth inning. On Wednesday, he blew the save after loading the bases before giving up a walk-off double to Angels outfielder Jorge Soler.

The honeymoon, it seems, it over.

Hoffman had gone a perfect 7-for-7 in save chances through May 2, with a 1.10 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. He looked virtually untouchable.

Astute baseball fans knew that it wouldn't be like that for the full six-month season. It never is. Hoffman was due for a dip, but it was hard to imagine the inevitable correction being this sudden and this drastic. His ERA rose to 4.24 and his WHIP jumped to 1.06.

Ironically, the horrific outings came after Blue Jays manager John Schneider gave Hoffman about as glowing of a review as a player can get.

Following Hoffman's April 30 two-inning, three-strikeout shutout performance against the Boston Red Sox, that saw him record his 500th career strikeout, Schneider offered high praise for his closer, according to MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.

"On a scale of one to 10 in terms of trust? It’s probably a 300," Schneider said, per Matheson.

No reason to panic about Jeff Hoffman just yet

Even though the skipper's trust level is likely less than 300 now, there's no reason to panic. It's true that this is Hoffman's first experience as "the guy" at the back of the bullpen. But he's coming off two dominant seasons with a 2.28 ERA for the Philadelphia Phillies in which he was part of a committee, and that's about as pressure-filled of a late-inning environment as you'll find.

Then there are the inevitable worries about his shoulder. Don't forget, Hoffman was rejected by the Orioles and Braves this winter over concerns about his medicals. It would be fair for injury concerns to creep into Toronto fans' minds.

Luckily, there are no red flags that indicate an injury marred either of his outings. His velocity has taken the natural ebb and flow of a MLB pitcher. On Tuesday, his four-seamer (96.5 mph) and sinker (96.7 mph) were both down from their season-highs.

They were a bit higher on Wednesday, and well within a normal range of fluctuation for Hoffman this season. It could simply be a case of being a little fatigued.

None of that changes the fact that it hurts to lose two close, winnable games against a team like the Angels. With the Blue Jays under .500 and still within striking distance of the first place New York Yankees in the AL East, these tight games are why the front office brought Hoffman in.

But that's baseball. There's no reason to believe Hoffman won't right the ship.