Funny thing about the MLB season being a marathon, not a sprint.
About three weeks ago, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s decisions to not retain Jeff Hoffman and to replace the All Star reliever with former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano appeared to be an epic backfire.
Hoffman, who signed a three-year, $33 million deal with Toronto, was one of MLB’s top closers for the first five weeks of the season. The 32-year-old started off 3-0 with six saves and nearly 13 strikeouts per nine innings, showing the filthy stuff Phillies fans saw in Hoffman’s two years with the club, save for last year’s postseason implosion.
At the same time, Dombrowski’s reshaped bullpen was leakier than ever. The poster boy for its failures was Romano, a 32-year-old two-time All-Star closer who had his 2024 season end May 29 because of an elbow injury that needed surgery. He signed a one-year deal worth less than $10 million to resurrect his career in South Philly.
In his first 12 outings, Romano looked rustier than a shipwrecked anchor. He practically needed a GPS to find the strike zone in his first five appearances, allowing seven runs and four walks, with herky-jerky mound mannerisms that portrayed an uncomfortable high-leverage reliever.
The lowest point came April 19, when Romano allowed six runs without retiring even three batters in a game the Phillies actually won over the Marlins, 11-10.
Here’s how it looked for each reliever by the end of April:
| Pitcher | ERA | Innings | Strikeouts | Saves | W-L |
| Jordan Romano | 12.19 | 10.1 | 10 | 2 | 0-1 |
| Jeff Hoffman | 1.17 | 15.1 | 22 | 6 | 3-0 |
Then came May, and it's almost as if their paths crossed at a crowded city intersection, with Romano and Hoffman headed in opposite directions.
On Thursday, Romano closed out a 2-0 Phillies win over the Rockies to complete a four-game sweep that stretched his team’s win streak to seven games. He struck out two and allowed no hits, extending his scoreless streak to nine frames.
Romano has 10 strikeouts and allowed just three hits in his past six innings, allowing Dombrowski to breathe a sigh of relief as he comes to grips with the 80-game suspension – and postseason suspension – of previous closer José Alvarado because of a performance-enhancing drug violation.
MORE: Winners and losers from the Phillies' four-game sweep in Colorado
That same afternoon, Hoffman blew his third save of the month by allowing a walk and a Gavin Sheets two-run homer that turned a 4-2 Blue Jays lead over the Brewers into a tie.
Toronto eventually won, but Hoffman saw his ERA balloon to 6.04. Three times since May 6, Hoffman has allowed two or more runs in one-third of an inning, and overall, he has allowed 13 runs in his past six innings.
Here's how the two relievers compare going into Memorial Day weekend:
| Pitcher | ERA | Innings | Strikeouts | Saves | W-L |
| Jordan Romano | 6.87 | 18.1 | 22 | 6 | 0-1 |
| Jeff Hoffman | 6.04 | 22.1 | 34 | 10 | 4-2 |
Neither reliever has an ERA to boast about, but Romano's has come down nearly five points this month while Hoffman's has skyrocketed about five points.
Romano, whose velocity in March and April was down a few ticks, has 12 strikeouts in eight appearances this month and has faced just 27 batters. Hoffman, meanwhile, has allowed 13 runs this month on 12 hits – including four homers – and five walks for an ERA of 16.71.
Their 2025 stories are far from being finished, and the judgment of Dombrowski's decision to essentially trade Hoffman for Romano (and save cash) won't come until season's end.
Dombrowski in April said he had "aggressively" tried to retain Hoffman in the offseason, per The Athletic's Matt Gelb, but the story mentions that Hoffman signed with the Blue Jays after better contract offers from the Braves and Orioles fell through because of medical concerns and cited sources that doubted if Dombrowski really wanted to spend long term on a reliever.
At the moment, Dombrowski has bigger fish to fry, as Alvarado's suspension leaves a gigantic hole in the Phillies' bullpen, especially in high-leverage situations against left-handed batters.
Right-hander Orion Kerkering has struggled in his high-leverage role, with an ERA of 4.00, and the Phillies' bullpen ranks 21st in MLB, behind the Rockies, who have just eight wins this season.
Despite their pen issues, the Phils own the most wins in the NL as of Friday morning, which makes you wonder where they'd be if Romano hadn't recovered from his dismal March and April.
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