CHICAGO -- In five awful minutes on Friday, the Blue Jays lost Alejandro Kirk and the game, but Kirk is far more worrying.
Kirk underwent X-rays on his left thumb after leaving Friday’s 5-4 loss to the White Sox at Rate Field in the 10th inning, and outside of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kirk is one of the hitters this team can least afford to lose.
The injury happened on a foul tip from Austin Hays, which clipped the bottom of Kirk’s glove -- where his left thumb would be -- and jolted his hand downward. It didn’t look out of the ordinary at the moment, but Kirk quickly grabbed his hand and immediately walked off the field with the Blue Jays’ training staff.
Manager John Schneider, an old catcher himself, knows exactly how it feels to catch a ball off the thumb like that. The moment Schneider got out to speak to his catcher, Kirk told him that he needed to leave the game.
“It’s more the thumb. It sucks. It hurts, especially on a cold day,” Schneider said. “We’re hoping that it’s nothing serious. He’s about as tough as they come, so for him to come out, you don’t love it. It was just all thumb, no wrist.”
Backup catcher Tyler Heineman came in off the bench, and just one batter later, the White Sox made the incredibly bold call to test him with a runner on third and two outs, still down one run. Derek Hill dropped a bunt just a few feet up the third-base line, but after Heineman pounced on the ball, he threw low and left to Guerrero at first. After Hill scampered to second on the error -- which allowed the tying run to score -- he scored the winning run on a walk-off single by Tristan Peters, salt on the wound of a brutal ending.
For now, the Blue Jays will wait on the results of the X-rays and hope, but there’s clearly some worry.
“That’s extremely unfortunate,” said starter Dylan Cease. “He’s a big part of the team. I hope he’s OK. He’s a big part of this team.”
Kirk’s bat hadn’t warmed up yet, but he’s coming off a fantastic 2025 season in which he hit .282 with 15 home runs and a .769 OPS, earning his second All-Star appearance. Kirk is one of the best catchers in the Majors on both sides of the ball, so there’s no shot at replacing his value, only minimizing the damage for however long the Blue Jays are without him.
Last season, Kirk caught 111 games, which feels like the sweet spot for his workload. Heineman is fresh off a late breakout season in 2025. He's off to another strong start at the plate, but the Blue Jays will need another catcher to be on a flight to Chicago before Saturday's game. Whether he will be needed for a day or a month, that’s up to the X-ray to decide.
Brandon Valenzuela, the Blue Jays’ No. 24 prospect who is currently with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in Omaha, is the logical option.
“Brandon makes a lot of sense, being on the 40-man [roster] and with what he did in spring,” Schneider said. “We feel comfortable with him, and I know he’s off to a pretty good start now in Buffalo, too. So I think he would be the first one to come.”
Valenzuela was acquired at last year’s Trade Deadline from the Padres for Will Wagner, and while it wasn’t the headliner of the Deadline by any means, it was a sharp move by this front office to acquire a young catcher with big league tools. Valenzuela’s defense and big arm are enough to get him to the Majors, and if his bat comes along, he’s a catcher who could stick around long term as Kirk’s backup.
Valenzuela just hit his first home run of the year on Thursday before the Bisons’ Friday game was postponed due to weather.
The Blue Jays will need to move quickly, too, as Saturday’s game in Chicago is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET/1:10 p.m. CT. An update on Kirk’s status is expected late Saturday morning.