"The bullpen was a major point of contention for Toronto Blue Jays fans during the 2025 season. Jeff Hoffman's struggles were a major lowlight, and there were serious concerns about the closer entering the postseason. Unfortunately for Hoffman, the playoffs would've proven all of the doubters wrong if he hadn't come up two outs short of finishing the job and closing out the World Series."
"The Blue Jays' bullpen woes were a bit overblown from a statistical standpoint. They were in the middle of the pack with the rest of the league, owning a 3.98 ERA. Four teams made the postseason that had worse bullpen ERAs, including the Los Angeles Dodgers. As Blue Jays fans know, those Dodgers used a strategy of deploying all their starters into various roles to compensate for their bullpen deficiencies."
"The Blue Jays still have all of their high-leverage relievers from the postseason under team control for 2026. Hoffman and Yariel Rodriguez still have years remaining on their deal, while Louis Varland, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, and Brendon Little are still under team control. Fluharty and Fisher didn't have the greatest performances in the postseason, but John Schneider continued using them, especially Fluharty, in higher-leverage moments."
Toronto's bullpen finished the 2025 regular season with a 3.98 ERA, placing the club in the middle of the league. Jeff Hoffman struggled at times and surrendered a game-tying home run by Miguel Rojas in the top of the ninth in Game 7 of the World Series. Four postseason teams had worse bullpen ERAs, and the Dodgers mitigated bullpen issues by deploying starters in varied roles. Toronto posted the third-worst bullpen ERA in the postseason, yet many late-game failures came from starters Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber. Multiple high-leverage relievers remain under team control for 2026, with Mason Fluharty showing lefty-specialist potential after success against Shohei Ohtani.
Read at Jays Journal
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