Blue Jays’ Hoffman talks taking ‘next step’ with closer’s role

TORONTO — When the lights go down at Rogers Centre and a message appears on the videoboard asking fans to turn on their phone flashlights, that means the Jeff Hoffman experience is underway. As Kid Cudi’s 2009 song “Alive (Nightmare)” begins to blare across the stadium sound system, the Toronto Blue Jays closer will emerge from the bullpen door in left field and head toward the mound. 

It’s quite a theatrical entrance and Hoffman is still getting used to all the hoopla. 

“It’s super dark when I’m running in and I don’t really get a chance to enjoy the show or anything cause I’m busy trying to beat the pitch clock,” Hoffman said with a smile. “But it’s cool how it brings the level of the building up a little bit and creates a little buzz going into that ninth inning.”

It’s understandable that the right-hander hasn’t yet reached a point where he can truly soak in the moment. That’s because the role of the closer is a relatively new one for him. Hoffman has looked dominant so far in 2025 and while it might seem like he’s been slamming the door on games for a decade, the reality is this marks his first campaign as the official ninth-inning man. 

Hoffman started games during the early years of his big-league career before eventually transitioning to the bullpen. He entered last season with just two saves on his resume, but added 10 more with the Philadelphia Phillies during a 2024 season in which the club didn’t name a closer and instead used a handful of relievers to form a committee. 

The right-hander entered free agency in the off-season and in his conversations with the Blue Jays, the opportunity to cement himself as the team’s closer was clear. 

“I was gradually building into what should be a full season of it,” said Hoffman. “It’s the next step, the natural progression of things.”

Hoffman, who signed a three-year, $33 million deal, says he didn’t try to do anything different in the winter to prepare. By now, the 32-year-old has a keen understanding of his repertoire and who he is as a pitcher. He simply aimed to build off his success from last season, when he posted a 2.17 ERA with 89 strikeouts across 66.1 innings. 

And if we’re talking about the next step or natural progression, Hoffman has certainly lived up to that. 

The right-hander has collected seven saves while producing a 1.10 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 16.1 innings. Take a deeper dive and there’s year-over-year improvement everywhere, albeit with the obvious caveat of a smaller sample size. 

Hoffman’s 40.7 strikeout rate in 2025 is up from 33.6 per cent last season, while his walk rate is down to 1.9 per cent from 6.0. His expected slugging percentage has plummeted to .206 from .343, and his hard-hit percentage has fallen to 32.3 per cent from 42. 

And then, there’s the eye test. 

Hoffman — armed with a 97-m.p.h. fastball he pairs with a slider, splitter and sinker — has displayed a steely edge on the mound with mannerisms that underline he’s in a spot he relishes. 

“Being the one that gets to decide that the game is over,” Hoffman responded when asked what he likes most about being a closer. 

“I think that’s the coolest part about it — you don’t really get too many ways being a reliever in the big leagues to impact the game in that type of way. So, I like that the role gets me the chance to impact the game.” 

Such an impact has been felt by his new club. Blue Jays manager John Schneider has talked glowingly about his trust in Hoffman and has deployed him for two-inning spurts three times this year. In those situations, with the most recent one coming on Wednesday when Hoffman stifled the Boston Red Sox in the ninth and 10th frames during Toronto’s 7-6 extra-inning win, it’s felt like Hoffman applied a chokehold on the game. 

“You know he’s good, but what we’ve learned is how he really handles situations that are tough,” Schneider said. “And it’s been really impressive. There’s been a few multiple-inning situations that are not easy, and a sign of an elite reliever is when you can do that in pressure situations and really focus on one pitch. He’s been pretty much as advertised, probably by a little bit more, with how he navigates all those tough spots.”

Schneider said he’s not surprised by how easily Hoffman has transitioned into the stopper role for the Blue Jays. 

“Not really because I think when you sign a three-year deal, there comes expectations as a reliever,” said the manager. “And I think that he wanted this. He spoke openly about wanting to be in this role.”

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins added: “It’s such a big transition for someone: You go new team, new environment, new expectations, new role, massive pressure. And it seems to not have fazed him at all. Actually, if it’s fazed him, it’s fazed him in a positive way.”

While everything might be new for Hoffman, his walkout song has actually remained steady. He’s used the Kid Cudi track for a while now and insists there’s no hidden meaning or significance behind it. He simply likes the artist and the song. 

However, take a closer look at its lyrics and the mentions of a person who transforms into a “beast” and “lone wolf” in the night make it hard to resist drawing a metaphorical connection to the right-hander. 

Every time the moon shines
I become alive, yeah
I’m feeling strange in the night
I’m not myself, I feel I’m thrown into a fight
Ah, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

That pretty much describes what happens when Rogers Centre goes dark and Hoffman gets to work.

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