TORONTO, ON - JULY 02: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brendon Little (54) is seen during the sixth inning of an MLB game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays on July 2, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays can hold out hope for a return to the World Series this year, but the season so far hasn’t progressed as they might have hoped.
The team has seen several key players go down with injuries since Opening Day, including Cody Ponce, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk. And while their position player group and rotation have been impacted by the injuries, perhaps the team’s biggest problem has been the bullpen.
“The Toronto Blue Jays are considering making a change at the back end of the bullpen, as manager John Schneider told reporters that the team will ‘re-evaluate’ Jeff Hoffman’s role as closer on Tuesday following another rough outing for the pitcher,” TSN reported. “In 12 outings this year, Hoffman has three blown saves (tied for the league lead), two losses, and has gotten the job done in just three of seven save situations.”
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The team could turn to Louis Varland, Braydon Fisher or Tyler Rogers if it does opt to make a change to the closer role. In the meantime, it seems that another struggling reliever is still working on his own return to form in the minor leagues following a demotion earlier this season.
In seven Triple-A games so far, Brendon Little has a 1.29 ERA, a marked improvement from the 24.55 ERA he accumulated in five games with the big-league club this season. Little had a strong 3.03 ERA in 79 regular season games with the Blue Jays last year, but issues started to appear during the team’s magical playoff run, including a consequential World Series home run.
“The last pitch Little threw in 2025 landed in the Dodger Stadium seats — an 18th-inning walk-off home run by Freddie Freeman in Game 3 of the World Series,” Mike Wilner wrote for the Toronto Sun. “He had to sit on that all winter while the death threats kept rolling in.”
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“It wears on you,” Little said of the continuous offseason death threats he received. “You start putting more pressure on yourself to go out and pitch well. Start doubting things that you’d never even thought about. That’s something that was new to me.”
Little ultimately decided to stay away from social media and it seems that some time in the minor leagues has also helped him return to his best form.
“The mental break’s probably been the biggest thing,” Little said of his improvement with Triple-A. “Just come down here and have fun with teammates again. Focus on doing what I feel like I can do rather than, ‘Better put up a zero or else I get crucified for the next two outings.’”
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