Blue Jays' Scherzer to start Wednesday, but can Hoffman close effectively?
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Following the Jays' 4-2 setback to the Chicago White Sox, manager John Schneider provided the team's starting rotation for a three-game series in Cleveland that begins Tuesday night.
Eric Lauer gets the ball in the opener, Kevin Gausman in the series finale.
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In Wednesday's game, Max Scherzer will usher in his return from a troublesome hand injury, which may or may not hold up.
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'That's a huge, huge addition for us,' said Schneider.
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'It's Max Scherzer. I'll take that any day of the week.'
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As for Hoffman, he hasn't been the same closer the team or fans of the Jays first saw early in the season.
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He has been prone to serving up home runs, and has looked spotty when games have been close.
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'It's the roller-coaster ride of a reliever,' said the skipper.
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According to Schneider, Hoffman is trying to return to his early season form.
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What's obvious is Hoffman's frustration.
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'It happens,' added Schneider. 'We trust the (crap) out of Jeff Hoffman. It's easy to blame him, but he's been on the other side of us winning games.
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'It's a tough stretch for him, but he'll come out ahead of it.'
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What did in Hoffman on Sunday was his inability to put away hitters in two-strike counts.
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'He's got three put-away pitches. When they're really good, they're great. When you try to force it a little bit, those pitches tend to be in the zone.'
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Hoffman did induce a weak come-backer off the bat of Andrew Benintendi. Hoffman couldn't secure the ground ball, however, and it dearly cost the Jays.
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'Nine times out of 10, (Hoffman) makes that play,' added Schneider.
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Prior to Hoffman entering the game, Brendon Little issued a walk. Little eventually was charged with two unearned runs.
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'Walks usually come back to hurt you and it did (Sunday),' continued Schneider.
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