Jeff Hoffman recovered from a disastrous May to re-establish himself as the big arm out of the Blue Jays’ bullpen but, even as his numbers have improved, home runs have remained an issue.
Hoffman has allowed 10 homers this season. The only reliever in the American League who has surrendered more is teammate Chad Green. That means even when the Jays closer appears to be in top form, he’s often one pitch away from losing his grip on the game.
Another one of those moments occurred Tuesday night when Hoffman served up a solo homer to New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice in the top of the ninth inning. That spoiled a three-run comeback and saddled the Jays with a 5-4 loss at the Rogers Centre, snapping their home win streak at a franchise-record 11 games.
“Jeff’s stuff was consistent, it was basically the same as it was (Monday),” Jays manager John Schneider said. “Sometimes they get you.”
Last time the Bronx Bombers swung by, a Blue Jays sweep started a 10-game home win streak. The
Some fans might get a sinking feeling when Hoffman enters a close ball game and most of that can be tied back to May, when he allowed 15 runs in 10 innings. But the 32-year-old entered Tuesday with a 2.65 ERA over his previous 17 innings.
The issue is that when Hoffman falters, it’s usually because of home runs. He allowed two in June, but they were solo shots that came when the Jays had two-run leads. On July 11, he lucked out as well because a three-run homer occurred in a non-save situation and the Jays still came out on top.
That margin for error didn’t exist Tuesday. The Jays fell behind early as starter Max Scherzer allowed a three-run homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first inning and a solo shot to Cody Bellinger in the fifth. ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ later evened the score in the sixth on an RBI double by Davis Schneider and an RBI single by George Springer, which set the stage for late-inning drama.
“If you don’t locate the ball, you pay the price, this is the major leagues,” Scherzer said, referring to his own outing. “I tip my hat to the Yankees, they’re a great lineup. They’re tough as nails … You make mistakes like that, they punish you. I’ve got to be better in these situations.”
The game remained tied until Hoffman entered in the ninth. The goal was to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard and give the Jays a chance to earn their eighth walk-off victory of the season. Instead it was the Yankees who spoiled the party and robbed the Jays of an opportunity to take over the AL’s top spot from the Detroit Tigers.
Hoffman was pitching for the fourth time in five days but, if fatigue was a factor in his performance, it didn’t show up on the radar gun. His velocity was up compared to season averages and he began the ninth by overpowering Giancarlo Stanton with four consecutive pitches at 97 miles per hour or above to get a weak pop-up.
In 1982, Jim Clancy, who died recently at age 69, threw one of the greatest games ever pitched
The Jays then attempted a similar strategy with Rice, but the Yankees second-year slugger was ready for it. Hoffman threw a 97-m.p.h. fastball in the upper part of the strike zone and Rice sent a deep fly ball over the wall in right field for his 15th home run of the year.
”(Hoffman) does such a good job of letting us know how he feels,” Schneider said. “We’re at the point now where guys are going to have to be pushed a little bit. I didn’t want to start the ninth inning with someone else and then feel the urge to bring Jeff in. I’d rather give them a clean inning. Just a pull heater there to Rice. They can hit home runs, that’s what they do.”
Prior to Tuesday’s unfortunate turn, Hoffman had successfully saved 14 of his last 15 opportunities. He has performed as the Jays initially expected for more than two months, so it’s doubtful that anyone inside the organization is going to panic over one bad pitch, but Hoffman’s continued trouble keeping the ball in the park should at least give the Jays pause in advance of the July 31 trade deadline.
It’s a given that the Jays are going to try and add a couple of relievers before the end of the month. The focus initially was expected to be on acquiring setup men, but they will have to at least consider the possibility of adding a closer. Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase, Pittsburgh’s David Bednar and Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran are a few that might become available.
That’s not the market the Jays wanted to be shopping in, but they also might not have a choice. Hoffman has been very good for a couple months. One pitch doesn’t change that, but the 10 home runs on the season will be in a lot of people’s minds if Hoffman is trying to close out a tight game in late September or October.
Perhaps that’s not fair to Hoffman, who signed with the Jays to become their ninth-inning man, but when there’s a potential World Series at stake, feelings shouldn’t matter. The Jays are going to need more help in the bullpen to achieve their goal and they have just over a week to make it happen.
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