When the phone rang in the Phillies bullpen in the second inning, Jeff Hoffman had to be a bit surprised to hear his name was being called to warm up.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Ranger Suarez was in the middle of putting himself into a bases loaded pickle for the second consecutive inning.
Hoffman started throwing, but just like the first inning, Suarez got out of the jam, becoming the first pitcher to ever strand six runners on base in the first two innings of a playoff game.
When Suarez walked Pete Alonso to start the third inning, the phone rang again. Again, Hoffman was asked to get up. Again, he started to get loose. Suarez would get out of that inning too, with a strikeout and a double play groundout.
So, Hoffman sat down a second time.
Then, in the fifth inning, Suarez got into more trouble. A hit and a walk, and a climbing pitch count led to another phone call, and another ask for Hoffman.
"That's something I didn't do a whole lot in the regular season, but I was ready for it," Hoffman said. "I felt like my body was in a good spot."
He wasn't wrong, because this time, manager Rob Thomson actually signaled for him to come into the game to protect a 1-0 lead.
Hoffman entered with those two runners on and struck out Pete Alonso. He then got Jose Iglesias to tap out to J.T. Realmuto in front of the plate. It was an excellent appearance. He got the job done. The lead was preserved, and the Phillies were 12 outs away from extending the NLDS to Game 5.
Jeff Hoffman strands 2 as the @Phillies keep the Mets scoreless through 5 #NLDS pic.twitter.com/r2eN9ov9Jo
But what happened next may have been the undoing for Hoffman and the Phillies.
The Phillies lineup, which other than an exciting four innings in Game 2 had been mostly silent, suddenly was putting together a possible threat.
Bryce Harper led off with a double, chasing Mets starter Jose Quintana. The next New York pitcher, Reed Garrett, faced three batters, each of which had a long at bat. He struck out two of them, but walked Alec Bohm, leading to another pitching change.
All the while Jeff Hoffman sat on the bench, waiting. All the while, Thomson didn't have another pitcher getting loose in the bullpen. It proved to be fatal.
Lefty David Peterson came on and got Bryson Stott to ground out, ending the Phillies threat, and Hoffman emerged from the dugout, tasked with getting three outs in the sixth.
Not usually a guy who has an up-down, Jeff Hoffman back on the mound for a second inning…. And it was a long inning because the Mets had two pitching changes. Damn the torpedoes at this point, I guess. This is going to be interesting. #RedOctober
He never reached that finish line.
Hoffman refused to blame the long time between innings. "It wasn't bad at all," he said. "I kept heat on. did what I had to do to stay warm. I was good to go."
But the guy who pitched the sixth inning looked nothing like the guy who got two huge outs in the fifth.
He gave up a leadoff single to J.D. Martinez, then lost control. He uncorked two wild pitches, hit Starling Marte and walked Tyrone Taylor to load the bases with nobody out.
He was able to get one out on a force at the plate, but Thomson wasn't going to let him face Francisco Lindor and lifted Hoffman for Carlos Estevez.
Then, this happened:
FRANCISCO LINDOR. GRAND SLAM. #NLDS pic.twitter.com/CdKuEVOfT3
It was a decision that ended the Phillies season as they would go on to lose Game 4 by a 4-1 score and the series 3-1 to New York. Going to Estevez wasn't really the problem, but not having someone ready to replace Hoffman sooner was the mistake by the manager.
"(Even after) he hit Marte, I still thought his stuff was good," Thomson said. "Even though he got up three times because of Ranger's pitch count in the first couple innings, he didn't throw all that much. He didn't have many pitches down there, so, I thought he still had some left."
Thomson thought wrong, and for the second time in four games, Hoffman was in a position to pick up a post season loss because he couldn't keep guys off the bases.
Going into his final appearance of the regular season, Hoffman had a 1.65 ERA. He was a well-deserved All-Star in the N.L.
But in his final four appearances of 2024 - one in Washington on the next to last day of the regular season and in three games in the NLDS, he pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs.
"I'm always just trying to pound the zone," Hoffman said, "I think I had a walk in every appearance, and that's never good when I'm doing what I'm trying to do. I didn't execute and throw enough strikes.
Jeff Hoffman: “Yeah, it sucks. All-Star wasn’t one of my goals, World Series was.” @PhilliesNation @OnPattison pic.twitter.com/K5aMhQVg9L
"It sucks. Being an All-Star wasn't one of my goals but winning a World Series was. So, back to the drawing board."
Not just for Hoffman, but the Phillies in general. Hoffman is headed to free agency. Other teams will likely be interested in his services, although those playoff numbers may have cost him a few bucks.
The Phillies have had three straight seasons with diminishing returns. They have to think long and hard about the construction of their roster because they know they really can't run it back with the same group again.
But resigning Hoffman could make some sense if there are other additions to the back end of the bullpen as well. But how the Phillies approach the offseason will be fascinating and Hoffman's situation is uncertain.
"I hope I'm back here next year with the same group and we get another crack at it," he said.
