The Philadelphia Phillies have struggled to create any sort of consistent momentum this season with a record of .500 headed into the weekend and coming off five consecutive losses.
With a starting rotation which has of course been one of the best in baseball and a lineup that has underachieved but not been horrible, there is one main issue plauging Philadelphia more than anything else.
The bullpen has been an absolute mess after the Phillies opted to replace two of their All-Star free agents with both external and internal options which have not panned out to this point.
In terms of letting people walk, there is none more egregious looking right now than 2024 All-Star right-hander Jeff Hoffman.
After landing with the Toronto Blue Jays on a sizable three-year deal worth $33 million, Hoffman has been one of the best relievers in baseball to begin the year.
While Jordan Romano — ironically formally of the Blue Jays — has struggled for Philadelphia, Hoffman has stepped into their closer role and dominated.
With a 1.35 ERA and 0.675 WHIP as well as 19 strikeouts in 13.1 innings, Hoffman is on pace for the best season of his career in virtually every statistical category.
Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke recently about the decision to let him walk and explained his logic in doing so after offering a competitive deal earlier in the offseason.
“I can’t tell you that the number he ended up signing for was substantially different than the one that we ended up offering him,” Dombrowski said via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But he wasn’t prepared to take that at that time.”
Interestingly however, a report from Matt Gelb of The Athletic ran completely contrary to Dombrowski’s claim that they had offered Hoffman something comparable.
According to Gelb, the Phillies had been telling agents that they were only interested in relievers willing to sign one-year deals, which if true would obviously mean the offer to Hoffman did not come near Toronto’s.
Dombrowski would also go on to explain why they felt comfortable enough to move on from Hoffman, sharing that the team felt confident in young right-hander Orion Kerkering being able to step up after an impressive 2024 season.
“We just moved off [Hoffman] and [signed] Romano because we thought Kerkering was ready to step up and, I don’t want to say take on more because his role has been important, but pitch more at the back and high leverage,” he said.
Kerkering has struggled this year to the tune of a 5.79 ERA over his first 11 appearances, however there is still plenty of time to turn it around.
However, with the way the bullpen as a whole is struggling and how good Hoffman has been for the Blue Jays, fans are not going to be thrilled to hear why team brass felt it would be acceptable to move on from him.
If the bullpen does not improve throughout the year and keeps Philadelphia from making a run to the postseason, the noise from the fanbase blaming Dombrowski is only going to get louder.
