Jeff Hoffman’s Blue Jays run deserves more than a one-pitch scapegoat job.
When Toronto sent Hoffman to the Minnesota Twins on August 3, plenty of people moved on quickly. Not everyone did. Nearly two weeks later, the frustration is still there for fans who watched him deliver in October and then watched all of that get flattened into one mistake.
That’s the part that sticks: Hoffman was a major piece of Toronto’s 2025 postseason. He got the final outs in the ALDS win at Yankee Stadium.
He did it again against Seattle as the Blue Jays captured the American League Pennant and reached the World Series for the first time in 32 years. Baseball-Reference.com says he logged 12.1 innings in that run and posted a 1.46 ERA.
He was, by any honest reading, a rock on the mound.
And yet, for some, that entire stretch has been erased by one pitch.
One fucking pitch.
That’s how Hoffman has been treated by a segment of the fan base: not as one part of a World Series loss, but as the reason for it. He’s been placed in the same bucket as Steve Rogers and Mitch Williams, as if the whole thing can be reduced to a single moment and a single name.
That framing ignores a lot.
Shane Bieber gave up the game- and series-winning home run. Alejandro Kirk hit into a series-ending double play with the tying run on third base.
George Springer made a baserunning mistake in game seven. Addison Barger was doubled up on the bases in the bottom of the ninth of game six.
Toronto also came up empty after the sixth inning of game seven, stranding 14 runners. And in the game three marathon, the Jays went from innings eight through 18 without scoring, leaving 19 runners on base.
There was also some plain old good fortune on the Dodgers’ side. In game six, the ball got wedged under the outfield padding.
In the bottom of the ninth of game seven, Miguel Rojas made a clean throw home to get IKF. Then Andy Pages tracked down Ernie Clement’s deep fly, barely before crashing into Enrique Hernandez.
So yes, Hoffman gave up the game-tying home run. But Toronto did not lose the World Series because of that alone. The loss came from multiple places, and pinning everything on Hoffman after what he did earlier in the postseason is unfair.
The World Series wasn’t even the start of the divide.
Once Hoffman showed he was human early in 2025, some fans decided they were done with him as the closer. What happened after that didn’t matter. The conclusion was already in place, and no amount of good work was going to change it.
That’s what makes the reaction so loud on one side and so quiet on the other. When Hoffman was dealing, there wasn’t much said. When he blew up, the anger came fast and hard.
None of that means the criticism is baseless. Hoffman was inconsistent with the Blue Jays.
At his best, he was Dr. Jekyll.
At his worst, he was Mr. Hyde.
Even supporters could feel their stomach tighten when he walked to the mound. The difference is that some wanted him to succeed, while others seemed to be waiting for the next failure to push him out the door.
There’s a way to say Hoffman fell short. There’s also a way to turn that into a pile-on. Too many fans chose the second path.
Still, those fans are entitled to their feelings. People who spend their time, energy and money on the Blue Jays have every right to be upset within reason.
Some choose to be measured and compassionate in how they criticize. Others do not.
Hoffman was also just the latest target in a familiar pattern, one that has hit J.P. Arencibia, Brett Lawrie, R.A.
Dickey, Tanner Roark and Charlie Montoyo before him.
To the harshest critics, Hoffman was an expensive free-agent signing who wasn’t delivering enough value. That made him a liability, and that was that.
No human angle. No grace.
No nuance.
I don’t like it, and I don’t think it’s deserved. But it is what it is.
What Hoffman did for Toronto in 2025 still matters. He was part of an unforgettable run, and he should be remembered that way. As for what comes next with the Twins, the hope here is simple: success.
And if that success comes, some of the same people who wanted him gone will probably be the first to complain that Toronto traded him away.
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