Photo credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Jeff Hoffman still has John Schneider's ninth inning, and the Blue Jays' bullpen usage shows why Louis Varland has not taken it.
An angle got straight to the point: fans are frustrated with Hoffman and want Varland in the closer chair instead. That conversation is not going away while Hoffman keeps drawing heat.
But Toronto's bullpen is not being built around a simple “best reliever closes” rule. It is being built around role value, and Varland's value right now comes before the ninth as often as it comes in it.
That is the heart of this debate. Hoffman usually gets a cleaner job, entering to open the ninth with the inning reset in front of him. Varland is the arm asked to walk into the mess.
The Sporting News piece framed Varland as the bullpen fireman, and that fits. He is the reliever Toronto trusts when traffic is already on base and the game is bending the wrong way.
That role can be more valuable than the save situation itself. Getting the hardest 2 or 3 outs in the seventh or eighth can swing a game just as much as the last 3 in the ninth.
Varland's role may matter more than the title
This is why Schneider has not just swapped labels and moved on. If Varland becomes the closer, the Blue Jays lose the reliever who can erase danger whenever it starts, not only when the scoreboard lines up for a save.
There is a tradeoff either way. Hoffman's role is cleaner and more defined, while Varland's is more flexible and, in many nights, more demanding.
That does not mean Hoffman is free from pressure. The Sporting News piece made clear that if he keeps struggling, the calls for change will only get louder.
Varland is making that push easy to understand. Blue Jays Nation noted that Hoffman, Varland, and Tyler Rogers had combined for a 0.90 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 7 walks over 20.0 innings entering last week, and Varland's share of that has strengthened his case.
Still, bullpen decisions are rarely about raw stuff alone. They are about where each arm gives the club its best chance to bank the 27 outs it needs.
That is why Hoffman is still the closer and Varland is still the fireman. Toronto may decide later that the ninth needs a new face, but right now Schneider seems to believe Varland helps more by being available for the game's ugliest pocket.
And until Hoffman's role fully breaks or Varland's usage shifts, the Blue Jays look set to keep the bullpen exactly that way.
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