In the spirit of Seth Lugo or Michael King, current reliever Jeff Hoffman would be a great pickup for the San Diego Padres this winter. 

The San Diego Padres need pitching.

More specifically, the franchise is in search of starting pitchers.

The team will also likely need to add some talent on a budget. A.J. Preller and his staff constantly think outside the box when adding to the roster. In the last few seasons, the team acquired two separate relief pitchers and turned them into productive starters. Michael King and Seth Lugo began their seasons as starters for the first time in San Diego, and each made it through the entire season.

In the latest reclamation project, Jeff Hoffman makes a ton of sense for the Padres.

Ruben Niebla gets results, and Hoffman is a free agent. He is considered one of the best relief pitcher options this winter.

Hoffman is predicted to sign a three-year deal this winter around the $30 million mark. At around $10 million per season, the rewards could easily outweigh the positives if he were turned into a starting pitcher. Even if his cost were to climb to $12-14 million per season, he could easily justify the contract.

Since his time in Philadelphia, Hoffman has relied more on his slider, which he throws 42% of the time. The 31-year-old right-hander also throws a splitter off his mid-90 mph fastball. The three-pitch arsenal is adequate enough to make it through a lineup a third time. He should remain productive in this day and age of five-inning starting pitchers.

The biggest roadblock for Hoffman is the number of innings he’s thrown during an entire season.

In 2017, he threw 99 innings for the Rockies in his second year at the major league level. Hoffman made 16 starts and appeared in 23 games. In the minors, he has eclipsed the 100 innings mark three times (2015, 2016, and 2018). There is potential to stretch him out, but the reality is he would be hard-pressed to make it over 125-135 innings in 2025.

Last season, Hoffman put up a 2.17 ERA and a 0.965 WHIP in 68 games and 66.1 innings pitched. The pitcher was named to the MLB All-Star team for the first time. He is really coming into his own as a pitcher. It took time, but the right-hander is a solid option.

Jeff Hoffman hasn’t started a game since the 2022 season when he was with the Reds. In total, Hoffman has 50 games started under his belt in the majors. There is experience for the 6-foot-5 pitcher. He could make the transition back to starter. It will take time, though.

If a starting experiment does not pan out for the Padres, Hoffman could easily slide back into being a high-leverage reliever.

The Padres will explore every option when building their rotation in 2025 and beyond,

Jeff Hoffman is a name to keep an eye on.

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.