Fed-up Blue Jays fans are begging for this pitcher to take over Hoffman's role

Jeff Hoffman's struggles in the early going of the Toronto Blue Jays season continued Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Angels.

Tasked to close out the game with a 4-1 lead in the ninth inning, Hoffman loaded the bases after hitting two Angels batters. He then gave up an RBI single before being taken out of the game.

The poor pitching didn't affect the Jays, who were able to walk away with a 4-2 victory, marking their third-straight win. Still, it was yet another shaky outing for Hoffman, who has already blown three saves and has an ERA of 7.59 ERA.

This doesn't seem to be just some little funk, either. He struggled throughout the course of the 2025 season, and more notably, failed to close out the LA Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series last year.

Blue Jays fans have had it with Hoffman's struggles, and have been pratically begging manager John Schneider to make a change. Though the Blue Jays skipper seemed against the idea last week, Tuesday's mishap seems to have him reconsidering.

"They know they need to be better," Schneider said post-game. "If you're not doing it, someone else will get a chance to do it."

That someone, in the eyes of many, should be Louis Varland. The 28-year-old came in to clean up Hoffman's mess on Tuesday, and has yet to give up an earned run through 13 innings this season.

 

 

 

 

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There were no shortage of impassioned pleas from fans when @Offside asked the question on Instagram. 

"This shouldn't even be a question," one fan wrote in regards to making Varland the closer moving forward.

"I don't know how they are still letting Hoffman pitch. This should have happened a long time ago," a different fan said. 

"Varland has earned the role as closer," said another.

There are other Blue Jays fans, meanwhile, who think the team would be best to go with a closing tandem.

"Varland and [Braydon] Fisher [need to] share the ninth. If they need Varland earlier, bring in Fish for the ninth."

Though the season is still young, Schneider may be best to make this change right away. The Blue Jays have gotten off to a disappointing 10-13 start this season, which already has them four games back of the New York Yankees for the AL-East Division lead.