Addressing Inconsistent Bullpen Is Biggest Key to Blue Jays Offseason

There were big stops in key situations throughout the 2025 season as a result of John Schneider turning the ball over to the bullpen, but there might have been an equal number of hiccups. The 2025 bullpen was arguably overworked during the regular season, and it showed during the postseason. Schneider’s faith in the backend dwindled to a small number of arms as the postseason progressed. In fact, he had two starters come out of the ‘pen in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Mariners.

Like in every successful season, the Jays relied upon clutch hitting and relief pitching. While the Jays’ bats had their ups and downs during 2025, most of the criticism was placed on the bullpen. As Ross Atkins and the front office evaluate their options, they have some big decisions to make when it comes to the later innings.

Jeff Hoffman is one of the biggest enigmas. He was phenomenal at times, but over the course of a season, evidence would suggest that he doesn’t have the velocity or the fastball movement to be a dominating closer. Set-up man? Maybe. His struggle to locate pitches was an ongoing issue and is one of the reasons the Jays have been publicly looking at other options.

Overall, the bullpen was considerably better than the previous year (when it all but imploded), yet it still ended 2025 as a mid-tier group by several metrics and encountered inconsistency throughout the postseason. If the Jays want to make another push to the postseason, the bullpen will need to be a more dominant, resilient unit.

The 2025 bullpen finished the year 16th in ERA (3.98), 14th in WHIP (1.28), 12th in saves (42), and a strong fifth in strikeouts (644).

Several relievers were pivotal at different times. Hoffman, who was signed to anchor the late innings, pitched a career-high 71 appearances, which could account for some of his late-season and postseason woes. Seranthony Domínguez, who is now a free agent, offered dominant right-on-right matchups with a microscopic opponent OPS. Mason Fluharty emerged down the stretch, flashing the poise to retire elite hitters in ultra-high leverage. Yariel Rodríguez found more consistent success as a reliever than as a starter, suggesting the bullpen maximizes his value.

And you can’t say enough about Louis Varland, who became Schneider’s Swiss Army knife in October, appearing in virtually every scenario, even as an opener. Newcomer Braydon Fisher also made a big impact in his first year with the club.

The bullpen also had some late-season and postseason additions and subtractions, as starters Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and José Berríos saw action. Even Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber both pitched out of the bullpen in Game 7 of the World Series. With that said, the Dodgers also deployed their starters out of the bullpen because of their bullpen woes.

Bullpen arms come and go. In 2024, the Jays’ bullpen featured names like Jordan Romano, Nate Pearson, Tim Mayza, Mitch White and Trevor Richards. They all underperformed, and as a result, the season was a disappointment. The 2025 edition fared better. The lesson for the Jays’ front office should be that bullpens are volatile, and success depends on churning the bottom, stockpiling multiple viable high-leverage candidates and leaning into swing-and-miss. Toronto did much of this last season and must double down in 2026.

In 2025, the revolving door included Tommy Nance, Paxton Schultz and Justin Bruihl. If they stick around, they could be joined by Jake Bloss (more known as a starter), Lazaro Estrada and Rule 5 pick-up from last year, Angel Bastardo. Can’t imagine any will get a permanent spot in the bullpen, but they might be a stopgap if injuries occur.

A sustainable bullpen is not built solely through free agency. The Jays have internal candidates who should be able to contribute meaningful innings. Some should be available by Opening Day, and some are a work in progress and might be available by mid-season. By leveraging these internal arms, the Jays can control costs a bit and be a bit more flexible in the make-up of their roster.

With the signing of Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, it might place Berríos in an awkward position when it comes to the starting rotation. Right now, it seems like Berríos could head to the bullpen or onto the trade block. He voiced his displeasure about what he perceived as a demotion to the bullpen at the end of last season.

The Jays also have Eric Lauer and Rodríguez as viable swingmen. Lauer proved his value as a starter and reliever in 2025, delivering starter insurance and effective bulk relief. Rodríguez seemed to stabilize as a reliever last season and looks destined to be seventh/eighth-inning leverage because of his command consistency and velocity.

While Jays’ fans have long heard about Ricky Tiedemann, the hard-throwing lefty who has had a series of injuries during his rise through the minor leagues, this might be the season he takes the next step. He could usurp Brendon Little (if Little can’t find his stuff again) as the bullpen's top lefty and provide the team with options. Other arms in the system include two more lefties, Adam Macko and Trenton Wallace, who both pitched in Triple-A last season and can offer multi-inning relief.

Free agency and trades are where the magic might end up happening. Edwin Díaz could be the back-end solution, especially now that Devin Williams has signed with the Mets and Ryan Helsley has signed with the Orioles.

Jays are also rumoured to be interested in signing Pete Fairbanks.

Some other notable names in the free agent pool include Robert Suarez, Shawn Armstrong, Kenley Jansen, Hoby Milner, Tyler Rogers, Kirby Yates, Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr., David Robertson, and Sean Newcomb.

More likely, if the Jays aren’t successful in getting any of the bigger names, they might target a return of Domínguez. Alternatively, free agents Jakob Junis, Hunter Harvey, Steven Matz or Caleb Ferguson might fit the bill.

Modern bullpen management considers a metric called leverage index (LI) to quantify the pressure of a given plate appearance. In recent years, the Jays have been focusing on analytics, especially when it comes to their pitching staff. This includes approaches such as pre-mapping the bullpen plan by identifying opposing lineup clusters where the setup ace is best deployed, dynamic substitutions where certain pitchers could be brought in to face segments of the lineup that include same-sided hitters, and a concept called flexible closer usage, meaning the closer might be brought in for four or even five outs instead of three.

Schneider has evolved as a manager and seems to be leaning into analytics. His bullpen usage last season was one of the reasons for the Jays’ success. When he walks to the mound in 2026, he might have new options to consider.