The second half of May is officially underway as the Philadelphia Phillies' 2025 campaign continues. Rob Thomson's club has found plenty of success early in the season, as the Phillies' 25-18 record through 43 games puts them in the National League's No. 2 wild-card spot, as well as only 2.5 games behind the New York Mets for the NL East lead.
Now that all clubs have played a quarter of their season, it's a perfect time to see how ex-Phillies players are performing with their new teams. While some of those familiar faces are thriving in their new environment, one former Philadelphia pitcher's stock has never been lower since leaving town.
Former Phillies RHP Jeff Hoffman's Stock is at an All-Time Low
Several Phillies veterans left the City of Brotherly Love this past winter, including right-handed hurler Jeff Hoffman. After the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves both backed out of deals due to concerns with the 32-year-old's pitcher shoulder, Hoffman inked a three-year, $33 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in January.
It isn't hard to see why the Blue Jays shelled out the big bucks to sign the former Phillies reliever. After all, Hoffman was coming off a 2024 All-Star performance that saw him go 3-3 with a 2.17 ERA and 10 saves, all while racking up a career-high 89 strikeouts across 66 1/3 innings of work in 68 relief appearances.
Much to the Blue Jays' delight, Hoffman was living up to every penny on his contract right out of the gate. The Latham, NY native was electric in his first 13 outings with Toronto, pitching to a 3-0 record with a 1.17 ERA, six saves, and 22 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, that's where the good vibes ended.
In five outings since May 6, Hoffman is sporting a putrid 33.00 ERA after giving up 11 earned runs and three homers on 10 hits in only three innings of work. Although he recorded two saves during that stretch, he also blew a pair of opportunities, costing the Blue Jays two wins that would've helped them be above .500 right now.
The MLB season is relatively young, meaning there's plenty of time for Hoffman to turn things around. At the same time, it looks like the Orioles and Braves were valid to be concerned about his shoulder, especially if that's the reason behind his latest underwhelming run.
Hoffman only has a few weeks to turn things around before being reunited with his new old team. The Phillies will be visiting the Blue Jays for a three-game series from June 3 to 5, followed by another trio of contests at Citizens Bank Park less than two weeks later.
Whether or not Hoffman's stock improves by then remains to be seen. If not, and he continues to struggle, it will look even more like the Phillies made the right decision to let him walk.