Jeff Hoffman on an evolving Blue Jays' bullpen, Spring Training facilities
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The Toronto Blue jays training facilities have evolved considerably since 2014, when Jeff Hoffman was first drafted.
The entire big-league roster has long since turned over and the staff looks much different, too.
Under those circumstances, there have been some adjustments for Hoffman even if he's intimately familiar with this part of Florida after training in nearby Clearwater with the Phillies in recent years.
Hoffman recently spoke with Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith on the subject.
«I came to the realization that when I first pitched in pro ball, this is where it was,» he recalled. «So being back was kind of cool.»
«It's cool to get to use the recovery tools and modalities in the training room, and also picking really smart people's brains about our game,» he said. «I've never played with any of the guys here, so every day I get to have a conversation with a Kevin Gausman or a Jose Berrios or whoever it is and hear new ideas that are brought forward. I do my best to have those conversations and have them frequently, especially this time of year.»
A year ago, the Blue jays' bullpen finished last in MLB in Wins Above Replacement (-2.5) and second-last in ERA (4.82).
Those dire results led to a makeover featuring Hoffman, Yimi Garcia and Nick Sandlin while the addition of Max Scherzer also bumped Yariel Rodr�guez to the bullpen (a pleasant surprise: Rodriguez hit 97.5 m.p.h. while pitching in relief this week).
«Hoff is great because he still kind of has a little bit of that starter mentality,» said manager John Schneider. «He's good with the running game, understands how to pitch. And then you couple that with like really, really good stuff. And that's where he's at right now.»
Determining which way things go will take months, but from Hoffman's vantage point on the mound at TD Ballpark, he likes what he sees.
«I think we have the makeup of what it takes,» he said. «If we execute the things that we're good at - be great at what we're good at - then we're going to put ourselves in a really good position to win a lot of baseball games.»
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