Jeff Hoffman Shocks MLB: Inside the Pitcher’s Stunning Postseason Breakout and What Comes Next

Toronto Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman is surging across search engines after shutting the door on multiple late-inning threats during the American League Championship Series, helping Toronto claw back from an 0-2 deficit against the Seattle Mariners. Big-game poise in October Hoffman’s 1-2-3 eighth inning in Sunday’s Game 6 preserved a 6-2 lead and underscored why manager John Schneider now treats the right-hander as his top leverage option. Earlier in the series, Hoffman recorded a four-out save in Game 3 and a spotless ninth in Game 4, combining for five strikeouts against Seattle’s heart of the order. The 32-year-old owns a 1.35 postseason ERA, turning what began as a bullpen-by-committee into a one-man show. From waiver wire to $33 million man The upstate-New York native’s resurgence started in 2023 with the Phillies, when he shifted from swingman to high-octane reliever and posted a 2.41 ERA. A follow-up All-Star campaign in 2024 earned Hoffman a three-year, $33 million free-agent deal with Toronto last winter. He rewarded that investment by converting 33 of 37 save chances during the regular season and striking out 84 in 61 innings. Roots in Latham and ECU Hoffman’s big-league heater was forged at Shaker High School outside Albany, where he led the Blue Bison to a sectional title and had his No. 23 retired. Undrafted in 2011, he unlocked mid-90s velocity with the South Troy Dodgers summer program and parlayed that jump into a scholarship at East Carolina University. Toronto selected him ninth overall in 2014, though Tommy John surgery delayed his pro debut. After stints with the Rockies, Reds and Phillies, Hoffman circled back to the organization that first believed in him. Pitch mix makeover The 6-5 righty now leans on a 97 mph sinker and sweeper combination that generates a 35 percent whiff rate, up from 19 percent when he was a starter in Colorado. He’s also added a 90 mph cutter to attack left-handers, limiting them to a .189 average this season. What it means for the Blue Jays Toronto’s bullpen entered October with questions but now sports a closer riding a 12-appearance scoreless streak dating to Sept. 24. If the Jays finish off Seattle, Hoffman would become the first Capital-Region native to secure the final out of a pennant since John Henry Johnson did it for the 1971 Pirates. Search interest skyrocketed after Sunday’s lockdown frame, and with the World Series potentially days away, Jeff Hoffman’s name—and his newly minted sinker—are likely to stay at the top of fans’ and algorithms’ leaderboards alike.