Blue Jays: 5 likeliest non-roster invitees to crack the roster

#2   –   1B Casey Kotchman

First baseman Casey Kotchman can be considered along the same lines as Dan Johnson in 2014. A grizzled vet that knows his way around a professional at-bat, and if called upon, should provide a valuable, albeit unspectacular, level of replacement.

Kotchman has been there before, and as a younger player with the Los Angeles Angels franchise, he looked destined to be one of the game’s more well-rounded hitters at the position.

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Like Hernandez, Kotchman also comes with a past link to Shapiro, Atkins and the Indians, where he played in 2012. It was a largely unsuccessful season, posting an OPS of just .612 over 142 games, but his season prior to that in Tampa Bay was excellent. In 146 games for the Rays in 2011, Kotchman slashed .306 / .378 / .422 with ten home runs and 48 RBI.

For Kotchman, as long as he can put together some quality at-bats this spring, his three tickets to a short-term spot on the 25-man roster will be Chris Colabello, Justin Smoak and Edwin Encarnacion.

As all three of those players are a strict 1B/DH type, Kotchman currently represents the best option for that role from the AAA Buffalo ranks.

That is, of course, unless the Blue Jays would decide to opt for versatility elsewhere on the roster instead. If, for example, Chris Colabello were to go down, would the Jays prefer to use Justin Smoak full-time and recall someone like Junior Lake, Ezequiel Carrera, Matt Dominguez or a third catcher? There are some balls in the air there.

But assuming that Kotchman’s bat plays this spring, he’s not entirely outside the conversation.

Next: #1: Toronto's lefty specialist in training