<p>The Toronto Blue Jays&#8217; front office overhauled quite a few areas of the roster this past winter, ranging from adding power bat Anthony Santander to veteran starter Max Scherzer. The bullpen was the main focus after the dismal campaign put forth by the 2024 corps, and the closer role was the biggest concern. The Blue Jays added and subtracted closer options this offseason, one of the toughest decisions for Ross Atkins and co. this winter.</p>
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<p>Canadian-born right-hander Jordan Romano has been Toronto’s late-game stopper since 2021. He’s been in the majors for seven years, two of those seasons being All-Star selections. He recorded 105 saves with the Blue Jays and currently ranks fourth in Canadian-born MLB players in terms of saves.</p>
<p>2024 was a rough year for Romano, as his presence on the mound was at a minimum due to injury. Arthroscopic surgery in the right elbow was the reason he was sidelined, putting Chad Green in charge of the closing situations for most of the season. Romano pitched only 13 and 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA. The club had seen enough to endorse the decision not to tender Romano a contract, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. The right-hander walked his way into a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on an $8.5 million pact.</p>
<p><strong>The current struggles of Ex-Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano</strong></p>
<p>It seems that Romano’s struggles in Toronto have followed him into his new role with the Phillies. So far through eight appearences, the Phillies&#8217; bullpen arm has pitched to a 9.00 ERA through seven innings of work. He&#8217;s allowed seven hits, seven earned runs, one home run, four walks, and seven strikeouts while converting one of two save opportunities. The closer is still heavily reliant on the fastball, which is landing at around 94-95 mph.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Closer Jordan Romano and the Philadelphia Phillies are in agreement on a free agent contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. Romano, 31, was nontendered by Toronto earlier this offseason and joins a Phillies bullpen that lost Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez to free agency.</p>
<p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1866187304886231441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>His visual evaluation appears to be inconsistent on delivery, slow to the plate, and he has not been locating well. His velocity has been minimized, potentially due to the past surgery and the prolonged on-ramping. His fastball used to be up to 99-100 mph. He would pair this with his slider, which is his go-to pitch option since 2022, and sits roughly ten MPH lower than his fastball while featuring 39.1 inches of vertical drop. Romano’s arm angle has changed from a 50-52 degree angle to a 47-48 degree angle as well.</p>
<p>With a lagging fastball that has been hit to the tune of a .333/.265/.556 line by opposing bats so far, he’s vulnerable as a closer, and it&#8217;s one of the reasons the Phillies have relied more on José Alvarado in the role.</p>
<p>Another alarming number is his chase percentage, which currently sits at 19.6% and is over 10% below his career average (30.8%).</p>
<p><strong>The positives in Blue Jays&#8217; closer Jeff Hoffman</strong></p>
<p>On the other side of this offseason roster decision, the Blue Jays signed Hoffman to a three-year pact, and the right-hander has been dominant for Toronto to start the 2025 season. His trust was quickly gained in the late innings and close games. Hoffman sports a 2-0 record with three saves converted through three opportunities and has six games finished so far this year.</p>
<p>His ERA is impressive, clocking in at 0.96 through 9 1/3 innings pitched, with the former Jays prospect allowing only five hits, one earned run, one walk, and 13 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .161 average with a 0.64 WHIP.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeff Hoffman with the Blue Jays:</p>
<p>9.1 IP<br />1 ER<br />13 K<br />5 H<br />1 BB</p>
<p>Orioles backed out of agreement to sign Hoffman over shoulder concerns.<a href="https://t.co/u8bvvMJosY">pic.twitter.com/u8bvvMJosY</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/UnderdogMLB/status/1911527837217018054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Hoffman has shown nothing but reliability so far this season and has not caused any anxiety when summoned late in the game. His Statcast metrics feature a lot of positive values above the 80th percentile line, and he&#8217;s mixing his pitches well, with every offering sitting at or above the zero run value line.</p>
<p>The sample size is small given the 2025 campaign is not even a month old, but based on the statistical comparison to begin the year, the Blue Jays made the right decision to let Romano walk into free agency while signing Hoffman to take over the closer&#8217;s spot. A lot can change over the course of the season but for now, Hoffman has been one of the better signings as of late from this front office.</p>
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The Toronto Blue Jays' front office overhauled quite a few areas of the roster this past winter, ranging from adding power bat Anthony Santander to veteran starter Max Scherzer. The bullpen was the main focus after the dismal campaign put forth by the 2024 corps, and the closer role was the biggest concern. The Blue Jays added and subtracted closer options this offseason, one of the toughest decisions for Ross Atkins and co. this winter.
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Canadian-born right-hander Jordan Romano has been Toronto’s late-game stopper since 2021. He’s been in the majors for seven years, two of those seasons being All-Star selections. He recorded 105 saves with the Blue Jays and currently ranks fourth in Canadian-born MLB players in terms of saves.

2024 was a rough year for Romano, as his presence on the mound was at a minimum due to injury. Arthroscopic surgery in the right elbow was the reason he was sidelined, putting Chad Green in charge of the closing situations for most of the season. Romano pitched only 13 and 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA. The club had seen enough to endorse the decision not to tender Romano a contract, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. The right-hander walked his way into a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on an $8.5 million pact.

<strong>The current struggles of Ex-Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano</strong>

It seems that Romano’s struggles in Toronto have followed him into his new role with the Phillies. So far through eight appearences, the Phillies' bullpen arm has pitched to a 9.00 ERA through seven innings of work. He's allowed seven hits, seven earned runs, one home run, four walks, and seven strikeouts while converting one of two save opportunities. The closer is still heavily reliant on the fastball, which is landing at around 94-95 mph.

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1866187304886231441

His visual evaluation appears to be inconsistent on delivery, slow to the plate, and he has not been locating well. His velocity has been minimized, potentially due to the past surgery and the prolonged on-ramping. His fastball used to be up to 99-100 mph. He would pair this with his slider, which is his go-to pitch option since 2022, and sits roughly ten MPH lower than his fastball while featuring 39.1 inches of vertical drop. Romano’s arm angle has changed from a 50-52 degree angle to a 47-48 degree angle as well.

With a lagging fastball that has been hit to the tune of a .333/.265/.556 line by opposing bats so far, he’s vulnerable as a closer, and it's one of the reasons the Phillies have relied more on José Alvarado in the role.

Another alarming number is his chase percentage, which currently sits at 19.6% and is over 10% below his career average (30.8%).

<strong>The positives in Blue Jays' closer Jeff Hoffman</strong>

On the other side of this offseason roster decision, the Blue Jays signed Hoffman to a three-year pact, and the right-hander has been dominant for Toronto to start the 2025 season. His trust was quickly gained in the late innings and close games. Hoffman sports a 2-0 record with three saves converted through three opportunities and has six games finished so far this year.

His ERA is impressive, clocking in at 0.96 through 9 1/3 innings pitched, with the former Jays prospect allowing only five hits, one earned run, one walk, and 13 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .161 average with a 0.64 WHIP.

https://twitter.com/UnderdogMLB/status/1911527837217018054

Hoffman has shown nothing but reliability so far this season and has not caused any anxiety when summoned late in the game. His Statcast metrics feature a lot of positive values above the 80th percentile line, and he's mixing his pitches well, with every offering sitting at or above the zero run value line.

The sample size is small given the 2025 campaign is not even a month old, but based on the statistical comparison to begin the year, the Blue Jays made the right decision to let Romano walk into free agency while signing Hoffman to take over the closer's spot. A lot can change over the course of the season but for now, Hoffman has been one of the better signings as of late from this front office.

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Blue Jays’ offseason decision to sign Hoffman and let Romano walk is paying early dividends

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