The Toronto Blue Jays have scooped up a minor-league catcher in free agency, inking Patrick Winkel to a minors deal on Tuesday, according to the club’s transaction log.

Winkel, released by the Minnesota Twins organization in late March, has already been reassigned to Double-A New Hampshire and will provide an extra layer of depth for the Fisher Cats, who’re currently without Geovanny Planchart due to injury.

The 26-year-old Winkel, a left-handed-hitting backstop, will join Aaron Parker and Alex Stone as New Hampshire’s catching options. It’ll be his first Double-A stint in three years after spending the last two seasons at Triple-A inside Minnesota’s farm system.

In that span, the 2021 ninth-round selection by the Twins struggled offensively across 125 combined games, slashing a measly .224/.279/.371 with 14 home runs, 63 RBIs and a 64 wRC+ (100 league average). He also struck out nearly a third of the time while walking less than seven per cent over those two seasons.

Back during his days as a on-the-bubble top 30 prospect with Minnesota, Winkel was regarded as a bat-first catcher, who still had plenty of developing ahead of him behind the plate — only he’s yet to fulfill that scouting report.

Winkel’s best offensive season came in 2023 at Double-A, featuring 10 home runs, 48 RBIs, a .266/.362/.424 slash line and a 106 wRC+. That promising performance also included favourable walk (12.6 per cent) and strikeout rates (24.2 per cent). But he’s yet to recapture that form since then.

He was, however, hindered by a right wrist tendon injury last season that sidelined him for nearly a month last June.

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