Arden Zwelling

Like there's just, there's things here happening that we've just never seen happen before.

And there's things that are for people like us who think about this stuff in great detail and consider a lot of different variables when we're thinking about it and talk to a lot of different people about it.

Um,

It doesn't make sense to us.

It doesn't make sense to them.

It's completely confounding.

And I think that's probably, as I said earlier, really unsatisfying to hear for a listener, a fan, somebody who's just like pulling out their hair at the latest Jeff Hoffman appearance.

But ultimately, all that matters is that the Blue Jays need him and he's got to be better and the Blue Jays need to help him.

be better because this team at its best as we saw last year had Jeff Hoffman being absolutely lights out late in games throughout the postseason so for the Blue Jays to be their best this year going forward they're going to need Jeff Hoffman to be a lot better and to look a lot more like he did throughout the postseason last year when he was absolutely lights out right up until he gave up a home run in game seven of the World Series.

But you look at everything he did in the postseason prior to that, and it was exceptional.

It's one of the best relievers in the playoffs last year.

So they need to get him back to that.

No matter what's happening here, between the lines, between the ears, et cetera, they just need to get him back to that if they are going to be good.

The tricky thing with that is Fisher has been really useful in like the fireman role that Louis Varland was in before he was elevated to basically the ninth inning or like the highest leverage spot in a game.

Like he's kind of filled those shoes and he's been really good at it.

And I don't want to take him out of.

that role honestly ultimately like they're a Jimmy Garcia short in the bullpen and Garcia is going to start a rehab assignment this week again with the Dunnean Blue Jays and we'll see how that goes but ultimately like they are just a leverage arm short right now

Uh, like if Yariel Rodriguez had like carried over some of what he'd been doing in Buffalo and shown up and been really good in leverage, that would have been helpful.

That hasn't happened.

Uh, they haven't had any other like success stories in terms of leverage relief emerge from the minor leagues.