3 Blue Jays takeaways: Hoffman falters late, but club stands by closer

PHOENIX -- Every time it feels like the Blue Jays have an opening to break through and change the energy around this brutal start to the 2026 season, something else happens.

Jeff Hoffman surrendered a grand slam in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 6-2 loss, which is all Blue Jays fans will be talking about this weekend.

The loss drops the Blue Jays to 7-13. This is what mattered from another frustrating day at the ballpark:

1. HOFFMAN ROCKED: Game falls apart in 8th

Jeff Hoffman’s first four batters: Single, Single, Walk, Grand Slam.

The Blue Jays had every opportunity to win this one late, but Hoffman’s inning blew up the back end of the game. This comes after he blew a save last time out when he walked three batters.

“There may be people that don’t want to hear this, but I’ve got a lot of trust and confidence in Jeff Hoffman, and I’ve said that for as long as he’s been here,” John Schneider said, reiterating that Hoffman remains the closer.

The discourse around Hoffman is, understandably, red-hot. Fans who just went through the offseason with the fresh memory of his home run allowed to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 have seen Hoffman open this season with a 7.71 ERA. Yes, his strikeout totals are very strong and on the good days, his stuff has looked dominant, but that’s not the story right now. The bad days, like Saturday night in the desert, have stood out too much.

“He’s going through it. He’s got to figure it out and come out the other side. When you do, you’re better for it,” Max Scherzer said. “You learn something about yourself. It’s the ‘evolve or die’ mentality. You’ve got to find a way to get better.”

Scherzer’s message was rooted in support, though, and a clear belief in Hoffman.

“We all believe in him. We all love him. We all believe he’s going to figure it out and get big outs for us,” Scherzer said. “That’s never going to change.”

2. THE PIANIST: Scherzer looks healthy again

Prior to Friday’s series opener, manager John Schneider was asked if Scherzer was doing OK. He’s been dealing with forearm tendinitis and was coming off a rough outing, but as Schneider started to answer, we could all hear a piano being played in the clubhouse outside Schneider’s office door.

“He’s good. He threw … I believe it was yesterday or the day before,” Schneider said, but you could tell he was distracted, too. “That’s him playing the piano right now.”

Scherzer used the piano to get past the thumb issue that plagued him in 2025 and prior seasons, and he’s still going. At first, it was what you might call “traditional piano music” -- the slower stuff. Then, as Schneider continued to field questions in his office, the concert outside took a different turn.

First came the familiar intro to Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” Next was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” which has some natural piano in its slow build, then another in Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares.” By the time Schneider’s pregame media session was done, the intro to Kanye West’s “Heartless” was being played as we all walked out of the manager’s office and toward the field.

Over six innings of two-run ball, Scherzer looked like himself. He struck out just one, though, so he still sits one shy of becoming just the 11th pitcher in MLB history to strike out 3,500 batters.

3. BIG OAK: Okamoto getting closer?

When you see Kazuma Okamoto fully commit to a swing and drive the baseball, it’s difficult to understand how he has just a .576 OPS.

His RBI single to tie the game 2-2 in the sixth was exactly that, a ground ball ripped through the left side of the D-backs’ infield. These have been too rare from Okamoto, though, as he’s often looked caught in-between. Oddly enough, he got a good bounce with one of those in-between swings tonight and rolled another single through the right side, but more often than not, we’re seeing Okamoto’s swing generate well less than 100% of his potential power.

This is understandable in April, given that Okamoto is still adjusting to the big leagues and just about every pitcher he faces. The Blue Jays will have plenty of patience -- as they absolutely should -- and we’ll keep seeing the reasons why, like that RBI single. Those moments just need to begin happening closer together, as Okamoto has such potential to change the trajectory of this lineup when playing to his full offensive abilities.