The Blue Jays are placing catcher Alejandro Kirk on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb fracture, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela is being recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move, per Hazel Mae of MLB International. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com was first to report that Valenzuela is in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse this morning.
Kirk exited last night’s game against the White Sox in the tenth inning after taking an Austin Hays foul tip off his thumb. Tyler Heineman took over behind the plate, and Kirk was promptly sent for X-rays. Although the results weren’t known until this morning, some kind of IL placement was expected for Kirk. In the end, the X-rays revealed the fracture as well as a dislocation, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Kirk will meet with a specialist on Monday to determine whether surgery is necessary. Based on similar injuries, the Jays can expect to lose Kirk for at least six to eight weeks if he undergoes surgery.
Any extended absence would be a blow to the Jays as they look to make another deep postseason run. The team is currently 4-3 and in second place in the AL East, although they’ve been outscored by their opponents 33-31. In addition, Kirk is arguably the team’s second-most valuable player behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After below-average offensive seasons in 2023-24, he rebounded last year to post a 116 wRC+ along with career highs in home runs (15) and runs batted in (76). The 116 wRC+ was more in line with his 110 career wRC+ and makes him well above average for a catcher. Indeed, Kirk’s 4.7 fWAR was second only to AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh at that position.
As good as his offense is, Kirk is also an otherworldly defender. He was worth 9 Defensive Runs Saved in 2025, which tied for third among qualified catchers behind the Giants’ Patrick Bailey and the Red Sox’ Carlos Narváez. According to Statcast, he graded out in the 100th percentile in blocks above average (21) and in the 98th percentile for framing. While his caught stealing and pop time are closer to average, those are very minor points in what is otherwise an outstanding defensive profile. Altogether, Kirk was the second most-valuable defensive catcher in the majors last year, based on Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric.
Further updates will come after Monday’s visit with the specialist. Obviously, the club will hope that surgery is not needed and that Kirk’s absence will be kept to a minimum. In the meantime, Toronto will rely on Heineman and Valenzuela behind the plate.
Heineman is purely a backup at this stage of his career, but the club may give him the lion’s share of starts in the short term. His offense last year was surprisingly strong, with Heineman posting a 120 wRC+ in 174 plate appearances. That was far off from his career norms and partly the product of good luck, as evidenced by his .342 batting average on balls in play. On the other hand, Heineman accrued 10 DRS behind the plate, and he ranked in the 80th percentile or better for blocks, caught stealing, and framing. Thus, even if his offense regresses, his defense should help him out as a temporary starting catcher.
As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Padres last July and is one of Toronto’s top 30 prospects according to MLB.com. The team added him to the 40-man roster in November. Manager John Schneider said yesterday that Valenzuela would be called up if Kirk needed to miss time. That has now come to pass, and Valenzuela will get his first taste of the big leagues.
Valenzuela participated in major-league Spring Training this year and performed admirably, batting .304/.370/.478 with a home run and three runs scored in 27 plate appearances. He first reached Triple-A in 2024 with the Padres and returned to that level following his trade to the Blue Jays. Valenzuela was slightly above average at Double-A, though his performance at Triple-A has not been quite as strong. That’s largely due to contact issues. In 105 PA with Toronto’s top affiliate last year, he struck out at a 30.5% clip and graded out 23% worse than average by wRC+. He has shown some improvement early in 2026, cutting his strikeout rate to 17.6%. Still, his offense hasn’t been his strong suit at the top level of the minors.
Rather, Valenzuela’s value comes from his work behind the plate. His MLB.com scouting report gives him well-above-average arm strength and control of the running game. He has a 33.8% caught-stealing rate since the start of 2024, including a 35.7% rate at Triple-A, and he is also noted for his ability to work with a pitching staff. His offense may keep him from being a big-league starting catcher, but his glovework gives him a decent ceiling as a backup. For now, Heineman’s stronger recent offense probably gives him the starting job. Valenzuela has three option years remaining and could easily return to Triple-A when Kirk eventually returns.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
Shame about Kirk, although if it had to be something serious, better to be a broken bone than a soft tissue injury.
Broken bones typically heal in a relatively consistent time frame and when they’re good, they’re good.
Recovery from torn tendons, ligaments or muscles is much less predictable and re-injury is much more common.
Granted that’s a very tiny silver lining.
Who knows, maybe fellow Mexican Valenzuela can shine in Kirk’s absence.
The Jays should give Valenzuela a hard look and keep Heineman as the backup
@bucsfan0004
Valenzuela’s super power is his glove and he has options. His bat grades out at 30/40. For comparison, a bench player has a bat at 45, starters at 50+. He’s there to give Heinemann rest days.
Third string catchers are there for their glove. Any bat is a plus.
NoSaint, Fangraphs might give Valenzuela’s hit tool a 30/40, but the Jays are much higher on him than the industry consensus. Maybe for good reason too. He seems to have good plate discipline and while FG only grades his raw power at 45, the Statcast measures seem to suggest there’s more in there than that. He’s already reached 111.7 off the bat this year and his average exit velos and hard hit rates have been great through spring and the start of AAA. Heinemann has had good results but they look really lucky given the quality of contact.
I don’t think any of that matters anyway. I think they’ll see catching as a function of the pitching staff more than anything until Kirk is back. The veterans who were here last year might throw to Heinemann more. While the new guys might throw to Valenzuela. I’d guess Valenzuela won’t get two starts in a row much just to give him more game planning prep time.
@KamKid
His time in the Padres system he was an average to below average hitter. At AAA, an average/below average hitter in the PCL. One of the most hitter friendly leagues in the minors.
MLB Pipeline also scores him poorly with the bat, a 40. Both Fangraphs and Pipeline have him as #28 ranked on a bottom third system. When the industry consensus is they’re a bad player, they’re a bad player.
The scouting industry’s consensus is wrong all the time. So much so that some teams are cutting scouting departments and moving more towards models based on captured data (I don’t think this is a great thing because there are more subjective data points that need to be considered). Now, I’m not saying he’s going to hit a lot. But I wouldn’t project Heinemann to hit much at all and Valenzuela can at least strike the ball hard. The biggest thing that doesn’t line up for me is the raw power grade. I don’t see how 111.7 max equates to 45. Maybe with his approach in SD’s system he wasn’t going to get to good quality of contact. But there’s a big shift in his quality of contact since coming to Toronto. At first, it came with more swing and miss but he’s cut that this year so far while continuing to strike the ball harder than in the past. Those grades are snapshots in time and while we shouldn’t be so quick to react to relatively small sample sizes, what he’s doing now is playing above those scouting grades and if he can keep it up, is making a case for a grade bump.
@KamKid
In 2024, in the PCL (a very hitter friendly league) he had a 32 wRC+ and was sent back to AA in 2025. In 2025 with the Bisons he had a 77 wRC+. In 2026 with the Bisons he put up a 82 wRC+. This is over about 300 PA’s. That’s bad, really bad.
The power tool is an indicator of sustained power, not he hit a ball hard that one time. The corresponding stats are ISO and SLG. Both are below MLB competence.
Good glove and has options are his super powers.
TH can hit and knows the staff. They will use him as the starter until Kirk comes back. As no saint said Val will be used as A day off guy
Heineman had a 120 wRC+ last season and he’s off to a hot start this year. Sure it’s limited ABs but he’s earned the starts.
Proves my point… less is more when it comes to Heineman. He was excellent in spot starts. The kid looked great in spring, let him start two games of every series for the next 4-6 weeks until Kirk returns
I might be in the minority here but if Krik’s bat is that valuable they should move him to another position because in a few years his bat might decline because of the abuse that catcher’s get through the season. Imo I’d rather have a high bb iq catcher behind the plate with good d and a strong arm because that will win you more games than a catcher with a bat
He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the game. I disagree about moving him to another position which he may or may not be able to play making him a liability as opposed to being a tremendous asset behind the dish.
@ ybc
I didn’t realize that Kirk was also one of the best d characters in the game, I don’t really follow the jays and all I seem to read is how important his bat is. So disregard my previous comment lol and him having a bat is just icing on the cake then
@brodie-bruce
At 5’8″ and 245lbs there aren’t any fielding to move him too. DH is a maybe.
The reason he is so valuable is because he is a good hitter while being elite behind the plate, together you have an all star. Separate one from the other and you don’t.
I would suggest you are in a very small minority.
By your own “observation” you would suggest that the great catchers of years past, Gary Carter, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Benito Santiago, Bengie Molina….to name a few and then there are current ones like Perez, Smith, Realmuto, Kirk……. all should have switched positions at age 27 because you think it is better to have them elsewhere because their bat is more important than what they did behind the plate regardless of every other factor that might keep them behind the plate?
Cal Raleigh ?? Or is Austin Hedges more valuable.
Somebody needs to stop the Yankees before it’s too late. At this pace they will finish the season at 135-27.
Don’t worry, the injury bug is on its way
Awwww… such a pleasant fella.
Yankees will be facing their division rivals in June swoon. This is Boone’s Yankees, so a June swoon is possible this time around.
I wouldn’t expect their pitching to continue at this pace. Its early.
Obviously the Yankees won’t continue to average a run allowed per game but there won’t be a massive drop off, especially when Rodon and Cole return.
Good. Then the dodgers won’t have ruined baseball
Put him on a 1o Jenny Craig too while you’re at it.
It’s those daily buffets at Golden Corrall with John Schneider & Vladdy ! Gotta cut down. All three are probably borderline diabetic by now.
broke my finger once. Did not take 10 days to heal so has to be a longer IL
Why didn’t the Blue Jays try to get strong defensive catcher, Korey Lee, from the White Sox?