Blue Jays sign Scott Copeland, Roberto Hernandez, Pat McCoy

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to roll out Friday minor league signings, announcing the additions of Scott Copeland, Roberto Hernandez and Pat McCoy. All three pitchers will receive an invitation to spring training and are expected to provide the Blue Jays with more depth in the upper minors.

Starting with Copeland, the familiar name returns to Toronto after seeing three starts and two relief appearances with the Jays at the MLB level last season. That quick stint didn’t go as planned, but he’s exactly the type of arm needed to fill in at AAA Buffalo.

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Copeland posted an 11-6 record over 20 starts with the Bisons last season, good for an impressive 2.95 ERA. His peripheral statistics are far from outstanding, but in Copeland, the Blue Jays have a name they can plug in to their AAA rotation for full time action without much hesitation.

In McCoy, the Blue Jays are getting a 27-year old lefty who spent most of his 2015 season with AAA Norfolk of the Baltimore Orioles. Across three AAA seasons producing 55 relief appearances, McCoy has a 4.63 ERA. He did see 14.0 Major League innings with Detroit in 2014, and he can be expected to open the season with the AAA Bisons as lefty bullpen depth.

Roberto Hernandez is the most interesting of the bunch. Formerly known as Fausto Carmona, the 35-year old Dominican has past ties to Shapiro and Atkins with the Cleveland Indians, where he made an All Star appearance in 2010. Hernandez spent 2015 in Houston, where he gave the Astros 84.2 innings and a 4.36 ERA between the bullpen and starting rotation (11 starts). This is a nice grab on a minor league deal, and the ability to stock Hernandez with the Bisons could eventually prove to be valuable in a pinch.