Blue Jays bring back Jake Petricka for a Spring Training look

The Blue Jays signed a familiar name to a MiLB contract on Friday, bringing back Jake Petricka for a look during Spring Training.

Pitchers and catchers will report to Dunedin starting next week, but that doesn’t mean the Blue Jays are done trying to improve the pitching staff. To that end, they signed a familiar face to a minor league contract on Friday, inviting Jake Petricka to spring camp as well. The report first came from Robert Murray, formerly of the Athletic.

This is actually the second time that Petricka has joined the Blue Jays organization, as he made 41 appearances for the big league club in 2018. That season he pitched to a 4.53 ERA and a 1.642 WHIP over 45.2 innings, bouncing between Toronto and their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo.

Last season the right-hander spent time between the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, pitching most of the year in Triple-A. He did make six appearances with the Brewers and posted a 3.38 ERA across eight innings at the highest level, which was a pretty small sample size.

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What’s enticing about the 31-year-old is the way he’s performed in Triple-A for the last couple of seasons, including while he was in Buffalo in 2018. Last season he had a 1.89 ERA and a 0.946 WHIP while in Triple-A with the Brewers, striking out 22 over 19 innings. That performance led to his MLB promotion in Milwaukee, and if not for a bit of a roster crunch that led to his being designated for assignment, he might have had an extended look as a Brewer.

As I mentioned, his Triple-A performance in 2018 was encouraging as well, as he posted a 0.78 ERA and a 1.087 over 23 innings. He obviously didn’t translate that same success to the big leagues, but it’s understandable that the Blue Jays would be intrigued enough to have another look this spring. That said, he also struggled in Triple-A after joining the Rangers last year, posting a 5.06 ERA over 26.2 with the Nashville Sounds.

As with any MiLB contract, there’s really no such thing as a bad signing at this time of the year, especially with a potential bullpen candidate. In this case it happens to be a familiar name, and hopefully his second go-around will prove to be successful.