Do the 2026 Blue Jays Need a New Closer?

After his third blown save of the year against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Toronto fans are demanding that something be done about closer Jeff Hoffman. The Blue Jays won 9-7 in extra innings on April 15th, but they may not have needed them if Hoffman hadn’t taken the mound. The 33-year-old entered the game at the top of the ninth just after his team took a 6-4 lead. He didn’t even play a full inning, but still managed to let in two runs to earn a 4.32 ERA. He only managed one strikeout and gave up three walks, two hits, and two errors. A score of 6-6 led to a tenth inning, but fortunately, the Blue Jays came back. One bad inning doesn’t define a pitcher, but what if it’s evidence of a problematic pattern?

One of Hoffman’s infamous mistakes last year was giving up a home run that ultimately lost Toronto the 2025 World Series. He was brought in at the top of the ninth of Game Seven when the Jays were up 4-3. He only gave up one hit, but it was a 387-foot home run from Miguel Rojas on a 3-2 count to tie the game. Even the best pitchers give up homers from time to time, but a closer’s job is specifically to get the final outs, so his team keeps its lead and wins the game. They are meant to minimize home runs late in a game, not give them up in the highest-pressure situation a pitcher could be in.

Closers are put in to earn saves, which are awarded to a relief pitcher who finishes a game and preserves the lead for the winning team. He also must do this under certain circumstances: he preserves a lead of no more than three runs and pitches at least one inning; enters the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle, at the plate, or on the bases; or pitches at least three innings. Hoffman has earned two saves and three blown saves in the nine games he has played in 2026. A blown save is awarded when a relief pitcher enters a game in a save situation but allows the tying run to score instead. To translate, the Blue Jays’ closer is not doing his job. 

On Thursday, Toronto lost the series against the Brewers 2-1. Right before Hoffman entered Tuesday’s game, Milwaukee’s closer, Trevor Megill, also blew a save for his team. They were up  4-3 when the righty allowed three runs to score. He allowed three hits, three errors, one walk, and struck out no one. His ERA for the game was 14.40. In the post-game press conferences, manager Pat Murphy has had conflicting statements about Megill. He defended his closer from fans’ booing, but when asked about making a change, he responded, “Don’t know for sure. I like to talk to other people about it. I mean, obviously, you can’t have a go, go out there six times and three times not do the job well. The way he is throwing the ball now, he doesn’t deserve it, but he can earn it back. Yet what are we gonna do? Who’s throwing the ball good back there that deserves it more? So we’ll figure that out. We won’t make those decisions after a heart-wrenching loss like this.” However, during Thursday’s game, Megill was brought in for the eighth inning, and instead, Angel Zerpa got the save for the Brewers. There are rumours that Milwaukee will now choose its closer by committee, and this situation seems to prove that. 

If the Blue Jays were to follow in their opponent’s footsteps and make a change to their closing position, which members of their bullpen would be good candidates? Two qualified options are the relievers who pitched before and after Hoffman’s blown save. Tyler Rogers pitched in the eighth inning and allowed just one hit, finishing with a 0.00 ERA. He is known for his submarine-style pitching, and his total ERA for 2026 so far is only 0.93. Louis Varland recorded the win for that game when he came in after Hoffman and immediately threw a strikeout to end the inning. He pitched the rest of the game and also posted a 0.00 ERA. He had two strikeouts, two hits, and no walks as well. Varland’s total ERA for 2026 is an astonishing 0.00 over 10 ⅓ innings. If Toronto won’t completely relieve Hoffman from his closing duties, perhaps they should also attempt closing by committee. Scheider said the team will have to get creative due to all the injuries they’ve faced so far, and this might be a solution while the team continues struggling to win games.