Blue Jays: 3 pitchers for the club to bring aboard on minor league contracts

After previously taking a look at three position players the Toronto Blue Jays should look to sign as minor league depth, we are now going to move our attention to pitchers.

Behind Yosver Zulueta, Nate Pearson, Thomas Hatch, Matt Gage, Trent Thornton, Nick Allgeyer and the recently-signed Julian Fernández, the Blue Jays don't have a ton of minor league depth on-hand when it comes to pitchers.

Each of the three hurlers below will be available for minimal financial impact and could ultimately end up helping out the big league club if either injuries or strong performances warrant a call-up.

RHP David Phelps

While there is a chance that Phelps has played himself out of a minor league contract, you'd have to think that he would be willing to accept a deal to return to Toronto where he excelled in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Phelps, 36, signed on with the Jays in November of 2021 on a - you guessed it - minor league contract. The following Spring, he played well enough to warrant his being selected to the 40-man roster and then the 26-man active roster.

In just the past two seasons alone, Phelps has made 76 appearances for the Jays, posting a 2.55 ERA with an equally-impressive 2.96 FIP and 157 ERA+, 57 percent above league-average.

He has excelled at limiting the longball (only two allowed in 74 innings over the past two years) and would give the Jays yet another experienced arm to plug in to the middle of the bullpen if he is able to play his way onto the squad.

RHP Wily Peralta

Over the course of his now-ten-year big league career, Peralta has worn a bunch of different hats including staff ace, long reliever, closer and low-leverage middle-relief option.

Most recently, he just wrapped up a two-year tenure with the Tigers that saw him competently function as both a starting pitcher (in 2021) and as a reliever last year.

It's his ability to do both things that will grab the attention of not only the Blue Jays but likely half the league. In 28 appearances last year, Peralta posted a 2.58 ERA and 147 ERA+ in 38.1 innings, allowing only two home runs along the way.

At times, Peralta has had issues with walks and home runs but if he is able to replicate his relief success last year, he'd be worth a look by the Jays.

RHP Will Harris

The game of baseball has not seen Harris in well over a year now as he has been on the shelf recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in 2021.

Harris, 38, is nearing the end of his career but has been crazy good over the years for multiple teams including the Rockies, Diamondbacks, Astros and Nationals.

In 447 games over ten years, Harris has a career 2.94 ERA, 3.11 FIP and 141 ERA+. He does an exceptional job of limiting home runs and is a very much a control-oriented strike-throwing arm.

Yes, the comeback from injuries is a question mark for someone at his age but he's been so good over the years and would give the Jays a highly-experienced arm that could play his way onto the big league bullpen.