Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez head into free agency after disastrous postseasons
NEW YORK — When the dust settles, Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez will still be two of the most coveted free-agent relievers on the market this offseason. But how the postseason played out probably makes it more likely that one or both won’t be back with the Phillies in 2024.
A first-time All-Star in 2024, Hoffman posted a 2.17 ERA across 68 appearances this season. He was, without question, one of the best relievers in baseball in 2024. But that didn’t translate to the postseason.
Hoffman inherited a 1-0 lead from Zack Wheeler in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the series, only to be charged with three earned runs and a blown save after failing to record an out.
To his credit, he came back in Game 2 and recorded an out for the Phillies without trouble. There was no reason to think his Game 1 had any carryover.
But in Game 3, Hoffman once again ran into trouble. Hoffman initially came on in relief of Ranger Suárez in the bottom of the fifth inning. He got two outs, and stranded a pair of runners he inherited to keep the 1-0 Phillies lead intact.
Hoffman, though, had to sit for quite some time after his first two outs. The Phillies didn’t score any runs in the top of the sixth inning, wasting a leadoff double by Bryce Harper. But they did enough to force the Mets to use three different pitchers in the inning.
Not only is Hoffman not used to pitching in multiple innings, but he certainly doesn’t typically have to sit for such a long time before coming out. It clearly affected Hoffman, because he had no control when he came back out for the sixth inning. After allowing a leadoff single to J.D. Martinez, Hoffman loaded the bases by hitting Starling Marte and then walking Tyrone Taylor.
Hoffman didn’t use the time between innings as an excuse.
“It wasn’t bad at all,” Hoffman said of the down time between innings. “I kept heat on, I did what I had to do to stay warm. I was good to go.”
What about warming up on three occasions before coming into the game, did that affect Hoffman?
“Um, that’s something that I didn’t do a whole lot during the season, but, I mean, I was ready for it,” Hoffman replied. “I felt like my body was in a good spot and I just didn’t execute a couple pitches.”
Hoffman did get Francisco Alvarez to ground out to Trea Turner, who threw home for the force out. But Hoffman exited the game with the bases loaded and one out, handing off a very dicey situation to Carlos Estévez.
Estévez — acquired from the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline to be the defacto closer — didn’t have a particularly inspiring finish to the regular season. He gave up hits in five of his last six appearances. On three of those occasions, he gave up multiple hits. There was reason to have some trepidation heading into the postseason.
After not pitching in Game 1 of the NLDS, Estévez pitched a clean frame in the top of the eighth inning in Game 2. Things went poorly in Game 3 for Estévez, though, as he allowed the Mets to add on an insurance run on a Francisco Lindor RBI double to give the Mets a five-run lead. That enabled New York to give exhausted Edwin Díaz the night off.
As it turned out, that worst was yet to come for Estévez against Lindor.
He came into a suboptimal situation Wednesday, inheriting a bases-loaded-one-out jam from Hoffman with Lindor — one of the game’s elite players — at the plate. Estévez’s fourth pitch of the game was a center-cut fastball that came in at 99 mph, and exited at 109.5 mph, landing, ironically, in the Phillies’ bullpen.
“I knew it [was gone] right away,” Estévez said. “I knew I wanted to go a little higher on the pitch. Unfortunately, it was more like middle-away, instead of up-and-away. And as soon as he hit it, I knew he hit it really well.”
Estévez was then asked how much it hurts him to have failed to come through in a major moment in the postseason when that’s what he was acquired to do.
“I mean, a lot man,” Estévez said. “I knew I came over for that situation, situations like that. It hurts. It’s tough to lose a game like that. But like I said, at the same time, I know this is a really good group. This is not the last time they are gonna be in the playoffs. It is what it is, man. It’s baseball.”
The bullpen for the Mets was far from perfect, as evidenced by the tightrope walk of Díaz in the ninth inning before he finally shut the door on the Phillies in Game 4. But the Phillies’ arm barn melted down in the NLDS, a trend that wasn’t exclusive to Hoffman and Estévez.
However, given that Hoffman and Estévez are set to become free agents now, it leaves a particularly sour taste in your mouth.
“I mean, hopefully. It would be great,” Estévez said of whether he would like to be back with the Phillies in 2025. “But let’s see, you know how it is.”
“Yeah, it sucks. All-Star wasn’t one of my goals. Winning a World Series was,” Hoffman said. “So, back to the drawing board. I hope I’m back here next year with the same group, and get another crack at it.”
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