There have been tweaks in the months since. Tweaks to pitches, roles and personnel. The Phillies were looking for the slightest upgrades. So, the day after the regular season began, they signed Jeff Hoffman to a minor-league contract.
He has a 2.53 ERA in 21 1/3 innings with 30 strikeouts, eight walks, and some of the best stuff a big-league reliever has featured this season. Maybe Hoffman embodies a Phillies bullpen that has been the teamās most consistent unit.
āI havenāt been in one like this,ā Hoffman said. āWe have some serious thunder down there.ā
Yeah if you read this it seems pretty clear they were excited to sign him and planning to bring him up eventually, not merely backed into a corner by his opt-out. Not that surprising, this regime has consistently been about getting guys with stuff and tweaking their approach.
Even a great bullpen can get dinged by some of those Padres hitters, and even more so with those two guys out. The key is to ding theirs back.
