Former Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman is imploding in Toronto, while the Phillies bullpen continues to search for answers

The Phillies’ bullpen is in survival mode right now — and heading into this week’s series in Toronto, they’ll get a front-row look at a former weapon who has fallen off a cliff.

Jeff Hoffman, one of the most valuable arms in last year’s Phillies pen, was a free agent priority for plenty of teams this past offseason.

The Phils were interested, but Hoffman — understandably — chased the bag. After failed deals with the Orioles and Braves due to medical red flags, he finally landed with the Blue Jays on a three-year, $33 million contract.

At first, it looked like Toronto had struck gold. Hoffman dominated in April, looking like the same guy who posted a 1.17 ERA for the Phillies last year. But the wheels have since fallen off. Over his last 10 innings, Hoffman has surrendered 15 earned runs and five home runs. His ERA now sits at an ugly 5.81.

Ironically, across the field this week will be another reunion — Jordan Romano’s first trip back to Rogers Centre since joining the Phillies. Romano had a brutal April (12.19 ERA), but has stabilized somewhat since, though his velocity and slider command have been inconsistent.

Meanwhile, the Phillies bullpen has been a mess since Jose Alvarado’s 80-game suspension dropped on May 18.

Since then, Phillies relievers have posted a 4.62 ERA and are allowing more baserunners per inning than any team in baseball except the A’s. That’s… bad.

Matt Strahm’s getting hit hard — opponents are batting .313 off him since mid-April. Kerkering was on a good run but had his scoreless streak snapped Sunday thanks to defensive blunders. Romano has been fine but not dominant.

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The Phillies have now moved Taijuan Walker into the bullpen full-time — no more bouncing between roles. They’re hoping his new horizontal slider will give him some bite in one-inning stints.

Walker joins Seth Johnson, Tanner Banks, and Joe Ross in the current middle-innings mix. It’s a group with potential, but right now, the Phillies are hanging on.

There’s no question the Phillies bullpen needs help.

Three leverage arms (Romano, Strahm, Kerkering) simply isn’t enough to survive a full summer. But the trade deadline is still eight weeks away, and top-tier relievers don’t move this early unless you massively overpay.

So for now, this group has to figure it out. And as they watch Hoffman implode across the field this week, they’ll be reminded just how deep and dominant last year’s bullpen was down the stretch with Hoffman, Strahm, Kerkering, Alvarado, and Carlos Estevez.

That was a strength. Right now? It’s a glaring weakness. And if Dave Dombrowski is going to take one more big swing before July 31, you can bet it’ll be for an arm to help stabilize this pen.

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