Jeff Hoffman

Note: This page is for major league pitcher Jeff Hoffman; for others with the same name, click here.

Jeffrey Robert Hoffman

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 4", Weight 185 lb.
School East Carolina University
High School Shaker High School
Debut August 20, 2016

Born January 8, 1993 in Cohoes, NY USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Jeff Hoffman was selected 9th overall in the 1st round of the 2014 amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and scout Chris Kline. He was considered one of the top college pitchers in the draft before falling a few ranks because of concern over the health of his pitching elbow. Indeed, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery soon after signing with the Jays, delaying the start of his professional career by a year.

He finally took the mound for a professional team on May 20, 2015, when he started for the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League. He made 11 starts for Dunedin, logging 56 innings with a record of 3-3, 3.21 and on July 18th was promoted to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the AA Eastern League. He only got to make two starts there, with no record and a 1.54 ERA, then was included in a blockbuster trade on July 28th. That day, the Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies swapped shortstops, with Troy Tulowitzki heading to Toronto in exchange for Jose Reyes, while Jeff, Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco went to the Rockies, as veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins made the trip in the other direction.

After making his major league debut late in the 2016 season, going 0-4, 4.88, Jeff earned his first big league win on May 11, 2017 when he was called up from the minors to make an emergency start against the Los Angeles Dodgers in place of Tyler Anderson. He allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings to receive credit for a 10-7 win. He had earlier been called up for a doubleheader on May 2nd, under the 26th man rule, and had pitched an inning and a third in relief. He made 23 appearances during that season, including 16 starts and was 6-5, 5.89 in 99 1/3 innings. The Rockies thought that he would soon settle into being a dependable major league starter, but it didn't happen. He was back in the minors for most of 2018, going 6-8, 4.94 in 21 starts for the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. He also appeared in 6 games with the Rockies - only one of them as a starter and had no decisions but a 9.35 ERA. He then split his 2019 season almost evenly between the Rockies and AAA, going 6-8, 7.70 in 17 games for Albuquerque, and 2-6, 6.56 in 15 starts for Colorado. He was seemingly unable to take the next step forward, and in 2020, the Rockies decided to turn him into a reliever at the major league level, with no minor league baseball being played because of the Coronavirus pandemic. He made 16 appearances out of the bullpen, logging 21 1/3 innings, but gave up 23 runs on 32 hits and 9 walks, for a 9.28 ERA. In spite of all the action around the bases when he was on the mound, he actually posted a winning record, 2-1, and also picked up his first major league save.

On November 25, 2020, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in return for a pitcher with a very similar profile: Robert Stephenson, another first-round draftee who at times had seemed on the verge of establishing himself as a major league starter, but had failed and ended up in the bullpen. Both men were considered to still have good stuff and could turn around given a change of scenery. Two minor leaguers were also involved in the trade: OF Jameson Hannah who accompanied Stephenson to Colorado, and P Case Williams, a 4th-round selection in the 2020 amateur draft who had yet to make his professional debut. It was the first trade between major league teams involving major leaguers since the World Series had ended a month earlier. Hoffman spent two seasons in Cincinnati, doing better than he had in Colorado. In 2021, he went 3-5, 4.56 in 31 games, including 11 starts, but starting in 2022 he became almost exclusively a reliever. He went 2-0, 3.83 in 35 games, his ERA being the lowest of his career thus far. Both seasons, he struck out over a batter per inning.

Hoffman finally put it all together in 2023. That year, he first signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins, then was released at the end of spring training but was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies. He quickly found a home in their bullpen and had a very good season, going 5-2, 2.41 in 54 games, with 69 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. He picked up one save, which was only the second of his career (he had recorded one in his final season in Colorado in 2020). He appeared in the postseason for the first time that year, with a total of 8 games over three rounds, allowing two runs in seven innings. He both won a game and lost a game against the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series, the loss in Game 2 of the series on October 9th being the only outing of the postseason in which he gave up any runs, both coming on a home run by Austin Riley in the bottom of the 8th. In 2024, he did even better as he was named to play in the All-Star Game for the first time after going 3-3, 3.17 in 68 games, saving 10 games, and striking out 89 batters (against just 16 walks) in 66 1/3 innings. After such a dominating season, he completely broke apart in the postseason however, as he allowed 6 runs in 1 1/3 innings against the New York Mets in the Division Series. Still, he managed to win a game, but it was a freak occurrence: in Game 1 on October 5th, he replaced Zack Wheeler who had been outstanding through the first 7 innings, holding a 1-0 lead, but allowed a single, a walk and a single to the only three batters he faced before giving way to Matt Strahm; all three batters scored, as did a couple more put on base by Strahm, and the Phillies lost the game, 6-2. In Game 2, he faced just one batter, when he retired Pete Alonso to end the top of the 9th after Strahm had given up a two-run, game-tying homer to Mark Vientos, but the Phils answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning and he was credited with the win. Game 4 on October 9th was another disaster, though, even if it started well enough when he relieved starter Ranger Suarez in the 5th and got the final two outs to preserve a 1-0 lead. Things fell apart when he returned to pitch the 6th: it went single, wild pitch, hit batsman, wild pitch, walk. loading the bases. He managed to get Francisco Alvarez to hit into a force play at home for the first out, but Carlos Estevez replaced him and coughed up a grand slam to Francisco Lindor. Three runs were charged to him, as well as the 4-1 loss that eliminated the Phillies.

Following the 2024 season, he became a free agent and on January 10, 2025, he signed a three-year deal with his original organization, the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal was for $33 million, with bonus clauses that could bring its value to $39 million, and the closer's job was given for him to lose. He got off to a great start even if the team did not, as he went 3-0 with 6 saves in his first 13 appearances through the end of April, with an ERA of 1.17. He was everything the Blue Jays had expected and even more, as on three occasions he had been so efficient in pitching his first inning that the Jays were able to send him back for a second - all of these in games that went into extra innings. He went through a tough stretch in early May, with back-to-back outings against the Los Angeles Angels in which he allowed three runs in a third of an inning both games on May 6-7, then after recording his 8th and 9th saves, blew a save against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 13th. In that game, the Blue Jays had managed to claw their way back from 4-0 and 6-3 deficits, taking a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the 8th on a dramatic three-run homer by Daulton Varsho. However, after recording the first out, he completely fell apart, allowing the tying run and then loading the bases before Junior Caminero hit a monster grand slam to the third deck at the Rogers Centre. The Jays managed to get two of these runs back in the bottom of the 9th, but it wasn't enough and he was charged with the 11-9 loss. With the three nightmarish outings, his ERA had shot up to 6.05. He ended the month with a save against The Athletics on May 31st, but one in which he gave up a two-run homer to Brent Rooker; for the month, his ERA was 13.50 in 12 games. He finished the year at 9-7, 4.37 with 33 saves in 71 games and 84 strikeouts in 68 innings. He was great in the postseason, giving up just 1 run in 11 innings over his first 9 outings but it all came crashing down in Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on November 1st. He was tasked with preserving Toronto's 4-3 lead in the 9th inning, and after striking out Kiké Hernández, he gave up a game-tying homer to Miguel Rojas. He then retired the next two batters, but Toronto ended up losing the game in 11 innings, having come oh so close to a third title in team history.

His first outing of 2026, on Opening Day at the Rogers Centre on March 27th, had to give the fans flashbacks to the World Series. He came in the top of the 9th to preserve a 2-1 lead after a great performance from starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, but after striking out the first batter he faced, Nick Kurtz, he gave up Shea Langeliers' second homer of the game. He then struck out three more batters - Tyler Soderstrom reached on a dropped third strike and he inherited the win when Toronto scored a run in the bottom of the 9th. This was the first of a series of meltdowns that included blowing a 4-3 10th-inning lead against the Chicago White Sox on April 3rd and a 6-4 lead against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 14th after the Jays had scored three runs in the top of the inning. By then, the fans were grumbling, and his next outing, on April 18th against the Arizona Diamondbacks did not help things at all as he came in with the score tied at 2 in the 8th, allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base, and then gave up a grand slam to Corbin Carroll. At that point, he was 1-2 with 2 saves but an ERA of 7.71 in 10 games. He obviously had good stuff, with 20 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings, but had also allowed way too much traffic on the bases, with 13 hits, including two homers, and 6 walks. After he earned his third save of the season against the Los Angeles Angels on April 20th, he faltered again the next day, being unable to preserve a 4-1 lead in the 9th against the same team: he allowed a run and loaded the bases on two hits and a pair of hit batsmen, and Louis Varland had to bail him out. On April 24th, in a press conference, GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider told reporters that the Jays would be going without a designated closer for the time being.

Notable Achievements[edit]

NL All-Star (2024)
30 saves Seasons: 1 (2025)

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Jeff Hoffman

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