Entering the 2026 season, Jeff Hoffman appeared to be the go-to arm for Blue Jays manager John Schneider in the ninth inning. With three blown save opportunities just a few weeks into the season, there might need to be some changes at the closer’s spot.

Hoffman has pitched to a 4.32 ERA through nine games so far this season, spanning 8 1/3 innings. After a disastrous outing on Tuesday in Milwaukee, where his command issues led to another blown save, there are now questions as to whether the right-hander should still be the closer in Toronto.

While Hoffman recorded 33 saves last year in his first year as the Jays’ closer, it was filled with ups and downs, leading the league amongst eligible American League relievers with 15 home runs allowed. Ross Atkins came out in the off-season saying Hoffman was not “married” to the role of closer, which means there are other options the team can look towards internally.

Varland has been a popular name in the Jays’ closer circle. While he struggled at times after being traded from Minnesota to Toronto at last year’s trade deadline, Varland slowly began to be one of the club’s most dependable arms as he pitched in 15 playoff games this past fall, setting a postseason appearance record.

Varland’s velocity is without a doubt one of the reasons fans are enthralled with the right hander as he can top out at 99 MPH on his fastball, while also incorporating a devastating knuckle curveball that has seen batters hit just .210 against it last season, however he has had some struggles with it this year as batters are hitting it more (.429), but he is yet to allow a single earned run in nine games.

The Minnesota product has proven to be a big part of John Schneider’s circle, and after coming in for extra innings against the Brewers on Monday and striking out Joey Ortiz to end the ninth and Gary Sanchez to end the ballgame in the 10th inning, he is at the very least getting looks from the coaching staff in higher-intensity roles.

Braydon Fisher gave up his first earned run on the road in his major league career and first run since game one of the World Series in this past series against the Brewers, surrendering a home run to Gary Sanchez. That stat for a 25-year-old is quite impressive.

Across 60 career outings, Fisher owns a 2.41 ERA, 2.96 FIP, and a 0.972 WHIP across 59 2/3 innings of work.

Fisher is the type of reliever that the Blue Jays value: throws hard, gets whiffs on his stuff, and can come in and clean up messes when needed. It’s one of the reasons why the Blue Jays have viewed Fisher as one of the relievers who is a staple of the bullpen.  As far as relief pitchers fare from 2025, Fisher was tied with the highest WAR along with Yariel Rodriguez (1.4). The Jays’ right-hander also got some votes cast his way for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

His strikeouts per nine innings currently sit at 11.2, and a cutter has now been added to his pitching arsenal. While Fisher may still be a bit inexperienced compared to Hoffman and Varland, he’s pitched in big spots before and come out on the other side, allowing just eight runs and holding opponents to a .466 OPS in high leverage situations.

Now granted, Yimi Garcia is recovering from elbow surgery from back in August; however, when healthy, the right-hander is one arm that Toronto relied on in key situations from the time he first joined the Blue Jays back in 2022.

Fast forward several seasons, and Garcia is still an arm that factors into the plans of being a late-inning setup reliever. A career 3.49 ERA across four seasons and 185 outings in Toronto, Garcia has primarily been an arm the team looked at in the eighth inning as the setup arm to closer Jordan Romano in 2022 and 2023, and Chad Green in 2024.

Garcia has never been a long-term, consistent closer in the major leagues, but he does have a few saves to his name, including 15 when he was a member of the Miami Marlins. The veteran arm has proven that he can handle his own and hold down the fort in tight situations. Garcia’s fastball generated a lot of whiffs and only held batters to a .143 average against it.

The big thing about Garcia is that the vast pitch selection he has to choose from can help generate outs in multiple ways. Jeff Hoffman’s biggest Achilles heel last season was the number of home runs he allowed; compared to Garcia, the most home runs he has allowed in a single season as a Blue Jay was eight in 2023.

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