ANAHEIM, Calif. — At some point, Yimi García and Jeff Hoffman were going to have a game like this.
They’d been so good for so much of the season — and not only were the results unsustainable, the usage was too. But because the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t been able to create any separation offensively, García and Hoffman rank among the league leaders in games pitched with 16 and 15 appearances, respectively.
On a cool night at Angel Stadium Tuesday, the heavy workload continued, but the encouraging results did not. García and Hoffman looked utterly ordinary in the series opener, allowing three earned runs apiece on the way to an 8-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
“They’re really working with a very small margin of error,” said manager John Schneider. “It’s tough to ask the same guys pretty consistently to do that. I’m trying to be as careful as I can with Yimi and Hoff and (Brendon) Little especially, and you’ve got to just add on runs.”
To be fair, this wasn’t all on the bullpen. An Ernie Clement error paved the way for the Angels’ six-run eighth and Blue Jays hitters failed to take advantage of some promising opportunities, but the Blue Jays did take a lead into the bottom of the eighth. Still, it’s hard to fault García and Hoffman, considering how essential they’ve been to any success the 2025 Blue Jays have had.
Of the Blue Jays’ 16 wins, at least one of their top two relievers has pitched in 14 of them, the exceptions coming in a 6-1 win over the Red Sox on April 8 and a 6-3 win over Atlanta on April 15. Otherwise, the Blue Jays have been unable to win without García, Hoffman, or both.
At 16-19, the Blue Jays are reasonably close to .500 still, but this series against the Angels should be a chance to gain ground against a last-place team. Instead, they couldn’t create separation and their best relievers finally looked vulnerable.
“Leadoff walks don’t help,” Schneider said. “Uncharacteristic day out of Hoff.”
Plus, while Hoffman threw just nine pitches, Garcia needed 24, bringing his weekly total to 68 and raising the possibility that he’ll be unavailable Wednesday.
“I’m going to trust those guys every single time,” Schneider said. “Hopefully they can get a little bit of a break.”
One solution, of course, would be power. But even after getting home runs from George Springer and Anthony Santander Tuesday, the Blue Jays rank last in the major leagues in homers. They’ve gradually been trending in the right direction here, but they’re not even close to where they need to be.
On a more positive note, starter José Ureña pitched well in his Blue Jays debut, working around some hard contact to limit the Angels to two runs over 4.1 innings of work. He lived up to his reputation by throwing hard, with an average fastball of 95.8 m.p.h. but generating limited swing and miss on the way to just two strikeouts. Whatever the case, the combination worked.
“Strike thrower with good stuff,” Schneider said. “We’ve liked him for a while. We know what he’s about and he’s a pro.”
It was just over a week ago that the Mets designated Urena for assignment. Since then, he hit free agency and quickly signed with the Blue Jays, an organization that features familiar faces, including his former Marlins manager Don Mattingly and fellow Dominicans such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Also appealing to Ureña: the chance to start.
-
-
MLB on Sportsnet
Watch the Toronto Blue Jays, Blue Jays Central pre-game, marquee MLB matchups, Jays in 30, original documentaries, the wild card, divisional series, championship series and entire World Series on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
“They gave me the opportunity to be a starter and be in the rotation,” Ureña said. “That’s the main thing.”
“You try to be consistent,” he continued. “When you have everything clear in your head, then things come more easily because you have an idea of what you have to work on.”
At this point, it appears likely that Ureña gets more chances to start given his major-league contract and the status of some of the team’s other options. While Max Scherzer plans to face live hitters at Angel Stadium Wednesday, and his injured thumb has responded well lately, he cautions that the biggest test will be how he feels after pitching in rehab games.
There’s also Spencer Turnbull, who will be stretched out as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, but he’s starting his season late as he recovers from last year’s lat injury so he’ll need at least a few starts at the minor-league level and may require up to 35 days preparing before the Blue Jays activate him.
As for Jake Bloss, the pitching prospect recently described as MLB-ready by GM Ross Atkins, the news is far more concerning. The right-hander left Sunday’s start with an elbow issue and got imaging done in Toronto afterwards to determine next steps. While it’s too early to draw conclusions about where this leads, Bloss won’t make his next triple-A start.
Under those circumstances, Ureña has value, so it stands to reason he figures in prominently against the Mariners Sunday the next time the Blue Jays need a fifth starter.
“He’s been a good pitcher for a long time in this league,” Schneider said. “If he can step in and give us some stability, it’d be a huge plus for us.”
Add it to the wish list for a Blue Jays team with some significant early questions.
