Who’s hot and who’s not: Blue Jays relievers

Previously we analyzed the best and worst performing Toronto Blue Jays hitters and starting pitchers in the last couple of weeks. To complete the series, we will now turn our attention towards the Blue Jays relief corps.

it has been well-known that the Toronto bullpen hadn’t been once of the team’s strengths for much of the second half of the 2025 MLB season. Nevertheless, let’s take a look to see which relievers have still managed to provide valuable contributions to the team despite the overall bullpen struggles and which others that haven’t been meeting expectations as of late.

How have the Blue Jays relievers been performing in recent weeks?

Hot Jays relievers 

Seranthony Domínguez 

For one of the Jays’ trade deadline acquisitions, Seranthony Domínguez had a rough start to his Toronto tenure when he was touched up for five earned runs in his first five appearances. However, Domínguez quickly calmed things down ever since and has shown why he had been one of the more trusted relievers in recent years.

In his past 12 outings, the 30-year-old right-hander has given up just one earned run on five hits with 11 strikeouts in just 10 2/3 innings of work while recording a win and four holds in the process. This was the Domínguez that the Jays had signed up for to help stabilize their bullpen. With the way he has been pitching, perhaps he can even be an option as the team’s closer down the road if needed.

Tommy Nance

As one of the surprising arms in the Jays’ bullpen this year, Tommy Nance has given manager John Schneider precious reliable innings when the team needed it the most. After spending the bulk of the first half of 2025 with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons, Nance joined the Blue Jays in mid-July and hasn’t looked back.

In 22 relief appearances, the 34-year-old veteran posted a 2-0 record along with a stellar 1.50 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, along with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched. In fact, Nance has only given up earned runs in just three outings all season. As much as the Jays’ relief corps had been struggling, the right-handed pitcher certainly isn’t one of them with his steady performance to date. In fact, Nance should be a staple in the Jays’ postseason roster if they make it that far.

Cold Jays relievers 

Louis Varland

When the Jays added flamethrower Louis Varland from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline, they were totally expecting what Domínguez had been doing in recent weeks, dominating opposing hitters with his strikeout ability. However, Varland has been quite the disappointment to say the least since joining the club at the beginning of August.

After a strong first impression in which he held the opposition scoreless in five of his first six relief appearances for Toronto to go along with eight strikeouts, the 27-year-old reliever has allowed baserunners in all but one of his subsequent outings. More worrisome was the fact that Varland had given up runs in more than half of the games in which he has appeared in for the Jays. With a 6.75 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in a Jays’ uniform, Toronto will need the dominant version of Varland witnessed earlier in the season with the Twins to have any success down the stretch.

Jeff Hoffman

Without question one of the biggest worries for the Jays in recent weeks had been the inconsistency of closer Jeff Hoffman. After starting off strong to begin his 2025 campaign with Toronto, Hoffman had been on and off for many of his outings over the course of the season. Despite recording 30 saves on the year, it often felt like he would either be unhittable, or he would be serving up batting practice each time he made an appearance.

Since the All-Star Break, Hoffman has racked up five losses and three blown saves. More notably, in his past 10 games, the 32-year-old closer has compiled a dismal 8.68 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, while allowing nine earned runs including five home runs in just 9 1/3 innings of work. In order to win tight games down the stretch and in the postseason, if the Jays manage to reach it, they will need much more stability in their closer. As a result, enduring harsh criticism or not, Hoffman will need to get his game back on track soon before his role could be in jeopardy.