Julian

Fernandez

Fernández signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays back in January and didn’t end up reaching the majors. The 27-year-old righty last appeared in the big leagues when he made six relief appearances for the Rockies during the 2021 campaign.

The deal, which was first reported last month, has been made official by Toronto. Fernandez made six relief appearances for the Rockies during the 2021 season and didn’t pitch in the majors last year. The 27-year-old righty gives the Blue Jays some extra organizational relief depth in the upper minors.

No word yet if the deal will likely include an invitation to spring training. Fernández elected free agency at the end of the year, and posted a 6.63 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 65/32 K/BB ratio over 58 appearances (57 innings) with Triple-Albuquerque. Fernández has a fastball that can get close to triple digits, but just hasn’t shown the command to be a successful MLB option at this point in his career.

Fernández didn’t make an appearance in the majors last season after making six relief appearances during the 2021 campaign for the Rockies. The 26-year-old right-hander struggled to a 6.63 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 65/32 K/BB ratio across 57 innings (58 appearances) this season for Triple-A Albuquerque.

Fernández passed through waivers unclaimed and will remain with the organization as extra relief depth. The 26-year-old righty made six relief appearances last year at the major-league level.

Fernández comes off the 40-man roster to make room for Greg Bird. The right-hander has been awful with a 9.47 ERA in 22 innings in Triple-A, and assuming he goes unclaimed and untraded, he’ll either report back to the Isotopes or test free agency.

The Rockies have 40 players left in big-league camp. Fernández was added to the Rockies’ 40-man roster last September after compiling a 2.53 ERA and 42/16 K/BB ratio over 42 2/3 innings between Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque. He wound up making six relief appearances at the major-league level in the final month of last season.

The hard-throwing Fernandez will be looking to make his MLB debut at age 25 after registering a promising 2.53 ERA and 42/16 K/BB ratio over 42 2/3 innings of relief this summer in the minors. He could be a future high-leverage option for Colorado.

The 23-year-old hurler was a Rule-5 selection prior to the 2019 season, but never threw a pitch in the Marlins’ organization due to continued elbow troubles.

Fernandez underwent Tommy John surgery last April, so obviously this isn’t good news. He was claimed off waivers from the Giants over the offsseason and still is under Rule 5 requirements.