The Philadelphia Phillies had the luxury of having elite reliever Jeff Hoffman on their side for the past two seasons, mowing down opposing hitters and leading the Phillies to many victories. Now with the Toronto Blue Jays, after signing a three-year deal this offseason, the Jays finally got a taste of what Hoffman could bring last Friday in his debut against the Detroit Tigers.

Toronto brought the All-Star reliever in during the sixth inning, and all he did was deal a nine-pitch outing in which he held the Tigers hitless with one strikeout in his inning of work. More importantly, Hoffman looked confident and strong, someone that the Blue Jays could really rely on this upcoming season to be the backbone of their bullpen.

Jeff Hoffman’s #BlueJays debut:

1 IP | 1K | 0 H | 0 ER ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/9jLjEzC394

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 1, 2025

When Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked about what he thought of his new reliever in comparison to former closer Jordan Romano, he had this to say during an interview with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

“A little bit calmer. Jordan was probably the exact opposite,” Schneider said, per Matheson. “You’d probably want your daughter to marry him [Romano] when he’s not on the mound, then you see him on the mound and you want to stay away from him. Hoffman is right in the middle, I think. He’s pretty consistent. He understands the situations and he likes being in those high-leverage spots.”

The Blue Jays might be impressed with the version of Hoffman that they have now compared to over 10 years ago. At that time, he was just a raw pitcher developing within the organization before he became a part of the infamous deadline trade that netted Toronto Troy Tulowitzki.

But this evolved, dominating and consistent edition of Hoffman has actually become the norm for the 32-year-old veteran, as many Phillies fans already knew from witnessing his brilliance since 2023. After all, he posted back-to-back sub-2.50 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP seasons with a whopping 158 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings of work over 122 relief appearances with Philadelphia. In doing so, he helped the Phillies successfully reach the postseason during both years.

Blue Jays fans might be used to Romano’s focused stare and flair for the dramatic whenever he comes out for a save situation, raising the blood pressure of everyone around him just enough to keep everyone on the edge of their seats before finally finishing the job. But they will certainly grow to love Hoffman, who is a calming presence, even when dealing with high-leverage situations. Whether or not the Blue Jays will end up giving the ball to Hoffman consistently in the ninth inning in a closer’s role remains to be seen. But it certainly wouldn’t make any sense for the club to invest so much and not give him a chance at the most important role in their bullpen.

Nevertheless, the Blue Jays will be looking forward to more of what they saw of Hoffman from his debut, while the Phillies probably hope to see less. That is because the more dominant and unstoppable he becomes, the more Philadelphia will likely regret their move to let him go this past offseason.