<p>The <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a> squandered their opportunity to take the series lead in Seattle last night, blowing an eighth-inning lead and losing by the score of 6-2 to set up an elimination game in game six.</p>
<p>Fans and media have been quick to blame manager John Schneider for electing to use left-hander Brendon Little in a key spot against the Mariners&#8217; Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, and Josh Naylor. Let&#8217;s look a bit further and see how bad a decision this really was.</p>
<h3>Little&#8217;s track record in 2025</h3>
<p>Little had a breakout season for the Jays in 2025, leading the American League in appearances (79) while registering a 3.03 ERA and .136 WHIP, while leading Jays relievers in fWAR (1.3).</p>
<p>His biggest issue throughout the season was undoubtedly walks, allowing a whopping 5.93 BB/9. Despite the wildness, his strikeout stuff was elite (11.99), helping him get out of jams and limit damage whenever he allowed base runners to reach. He also allowed just two home runs all season, proving that if he could keep the ball around the zone, good things would usually happen. His 2.92 FIP shows that when you look under the hood, Little did not benefit from luck and slightly underperformed his expected ERA in 2025.</p>
<p>Although the full season numbers look good, Little&#8217;s second half was markedly worse than his first. In the first half of the season, he owned a 2.03 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 45 appearances, compared to a 4.88 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in the second half.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blue Jays Brendon Little has a 6.08 ERA &amp; 1.88 WHIP over his last 21 appearances</p>
<p>&mdash; Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNstats/status/1979352837722378324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3>What was John Schneider thinking?</h3>
<p>The above numbers for Little shared by Sportsnet include last night&#8217;s three earned runs, and date back to his two earned runs against Milwaukee on August 29th.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unfair to Schneider to include Little&#8217;s numbers <em>after </em>last night&#8217;s game in considering the decision to have him pitch the eighth. Coming into last night, Little had managed a 2.13 ERA and 1.39 WHIP over his last 17 appearances, which covers 12 2/3 innings pitched. To be my own devil&#8217;s advocate, he allowed a hit and showed some wildness in each of his playoff appearances, but there was reason to believe that Schneider thought he was back to being the pitcher he had been for the majority of the season.</p>
<p>As he said in his postseason press conference, Schneider wanted to change up the looks that the middle of the Mariners&#8217; order had against the Blue Jays&#8217; bullpen. It&#8217;s the kind of reasoning that is bound to look bad when it doesn&#8217;t work out, especially considering that closer Jeff Hoffman had been seen only once in the series by Raleigh, and not by Polanco or Naylor.</p>
<p>A reasoning that would have made more sense was if the Jays did not feel like Hoffman could pitch the final two innings of the game (he hadn&#8217;t pitched multiple innings since April 30th), and instead wanted to hold him for the 9th to close out the game. Non-Hoffman relievers on the roster combined for just four regular-season saves, which would have meant that somebody would have been used in an unfamiliar spot.</p>
<h3>Who should have pitched the 8th inning</h3>
<p>It goes without saying that, in hindsight, it&#8217;s easy to say what should have been done in any particular game. I think the majority of fans and media who expected to see Hoffman pitch in that moment are justified in their reasoning.</p>
<p>To spend <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-john-schneider-mismanaged-his-way-to-game-5-alcs-loss">big offseason money</a> on a reliever like Hoffman and not use him in that key spot against the opponent&#8217;s best hitters is understandably frustrating for most to swallow. However, despite his solid playoff numbers, let&#8217;s not forget that Hoffman struggled for most of the season to the tune of a 4.37 ERA, giving up more than double the home runs (15) than the next highest reliever on the roster. If the Blue Jays closer was dominant all season long, maybe the decision to deploy Little never happens.</p>
<p>Seranthony Dominiguez has been another name that fans have thrown around as someone who should have started that inning. The trade deadline acquisition entered the game against the top of the Mariners&#8217; order in game one, allowing a hit and two walks before being taken out of the game. Of course, Dominiguez also hit a man and gave up a grand slam in relief of Little last night, putting the game out of reach instead of limiting damage. Varland could have been used for a second inning, but that&#8217;s also something he hasn&#8217;t done much of this season. The other potential options &#8211; Braydon Fisher and Mason Fluharty &#8211; have also had their struggles this postseason and would have been heavily criticized had they failed in that spot as well.</p>
<p>The reality here is that the Blue Jays&#8217; bullpen is not playoff-calibre. I think it&#8217;s pretty telling that a guy who has struggled as much as Dominguez has this series has been the name thrown around the most (after Hoffman) regarding who <em>should</em> have pitched the 8th last night. The Blue Jays have some solid arms in their pen, but expecting them all to lock down the opposing offence is unrealistic when your offense puts up just two runs.</p>
<h3>Final Verdict</h3>
<p>Jeff Hoffman should have been pitching the eighth inning for the Blue Jays against Seattle&#8217;s best hitters.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll never know how those matchups would have played out, but there&#8217;s a strong chance that Schneider will have the chance to go to his closer in a similar spot in games six and/or seven. As for Little, framing him as one of the worst pitchers on the roster is simply incorrect, and it wouldn&#8217;t have been shocking if he had delivered in that moment.</p>
<p>Although Schneider&#8217;s decision clearly didn&#8217;t work out, chances are that he would have been blamed regardless of who blew the lead.</p>
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The <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/">Blue Jays</a> squandered their opportunity to take the series lead in Seattle last night, blowing an eighth-inning lead and losing by the score of 6-2 to set up an elimination game in game six.

Fans and media have been quick to blame manager John Schneider for electing to use left-hander Brendon Little in a key spot against the Mariners' Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, and Josh Naylor. Let's look a bit further and see how bad a decision this really was.
<h3>Little's track record in 2025</h3>
Little had a breakout season for the Jays in 2025, leading the American League in appearances (79) while registering a 3.03 ERA and .136 WHIP, while leading Jays relievers in fWAR (1.3).

His biggest issue throughout the season was undoubtedly walks, allowing a whopping 5.93 BB/9. Despite the wildness, his strikeout stuff was elite (11.99), helping him get out of jams and limit damage whenever he allowed base runners to reach. He also allowed just two home runs all season, proving that if he could keep the ball around the zone, good things would usually happen. His 2.92 FIP shows that when you look under the hood, Little did not benefit from luck and slightly underperformed his expected ERA in 2025.

Although the full season numbers look good, Little's second half was markedly worse than his first. In the first half of the season, he owned a 2.03 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 45 appearances, compared to a 4.88 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in the second half.

https://twitter.com/SNstats/status/1979352837722378324
<h3>What was John Schneider thinking?</h3>
The above numbers for Little shared by Sportsnet include last night's three earned runs, and date back to his two earned runs against Milwaukee on August 29th.

It's unfair to Schneider to include Little's numbers <em>after </em>last night's game in considering the decision to have him pitch the eighth. Coming into last night, Little had managed a 2.13 ERA and 1.39 WHIP over his last 17 appearances, which covers 12 2/3 innings pitched. To be my own devil's advocate, he allowed a hit and showed some wildness in each of his playoff appearances, but there was reason to believe that Schneider thought he was back to being the pitcher he had been for the majority of the season.

As he said in his postseason press conference, Schneider wanted to change up the looks that the middle of the Mariners' order had against the Blue Jays' bullpen. It's the kind of reasoning that is bound to look bad when it doesn't work out, especially considering that closer Jeff Hoffman had been seen only once in the series by Raleigh, and not by Polanco or Naylor.

A reasoning that would have made more sense was if the Jays did not feel like Hoffman could pitch the final two innings of the game (he hadn't pitched multiple innings since April 30th), and instead wanted to hold him for the 9th to close out the game. Non-Hoffman relievers on the roster combined for just four regular-season saves, which would have meant that somebody would have been used in an unfamiliar spot.
<h3>Who should have pitched the 8th inning</h3>
It goes without saying that, in hindsight, it's easy to say what should have been done in any particular game. I think the majority of fans and media who expected to see Hoffman pitch in that moment are justified in their reasoning.

To spend <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-john-schneider-mismanaged-his-way-to-game-5-alcs-loss">big offseason money</a> on a reliever like Hoffman and not use him in that key spot against the opponent's best hitters is understandably frustrating for most to swallow. However, despite his solid playoff numbers, let's not forget that Hoffman struggled for most of the season to the tune of a 4.37 ERA, giving up more than double the home runs (15) than the next highest reliever on the roster. If the Blue Jays closer was dominant all season long, maybe the decision to deploy Little never happens.

Seranthony Dominiguez has been another name that fans have thrown around as someone who should have started that inning. The trade deadline acquisition entered the game against the top of the Mariners' order in game one, allowing a hit and two walks before being taken out of the game. Of course, Dominiguez also hit a man and gave up a grand slam in relief of Little last night, putting the game out of reach instead of limiting damage. Varland could have been used for a second inning, but that's also something he hasn't done much of this season. The other potential options - Braydon Fisher and Mason Fluharty - have also had their struggles this postseason and would have been heavily criticized had they failed in that spot as well.

The reality here is that the Blue Jays' bullpen is not playoff-calibre. I think it's pretty telling that a guy who has struggled as much as Dominguez has this series has been the name thrown around the most (after Hoffman) regarding who <em>should</em> have pitched the 8th last night. The Blue Jays have some solid arms in their pen, but expecting them all to lock down the opposing offence is unrealistic when your offense puts up just two runs.
<h3>Final Verdict</h3>
Jeff Hoffman should have been pitching the eighth inning for the Blue Jays against Seattle's best hitters.

We'll never know how those matchups would have played out, but there's a strong chance that Schneider will have the chance to go to his closer in a similar spot in games six and/or seven. As for Little, framing him as one of the worst pitchers on the roster is simply incorrect, and it wouldn't have been shocking if he had delivered in that moment.

Although Schneider's decision clearly didn't work out, chances are that he would have been blamed regardless of who blew the lead.

<hr />

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Celebrate <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">Vladdy’s big news</a> in style with the <em>exclusive</em> new <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">BlueJaysNation Vladdy merch</a> — available only at <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">NationGear.ca</a>! Rep a future Hall of Famer and wear your team's pride loud. Limited drop. Don’t miss out.

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