TORONTO -- Brandon Valenzuela has his first big moment in the big leagues, a rocket to right field that gave the Blue Jays the lead and Valenzuela his first career MLB home run.
This is what Blue Jays baseball looks like when it’s all working, from down 4-0 to a 10-4 win over the Twins on Friday night. Valenzuela, the young catcher up from Triple-A to help cover for the loss of Alejandro Kirk to a broken thumb, stood in the dugout through a long fourth inning as he watched Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jesús Sánchez and Davis Schneider rip hard-hit doubles to bring Rogers Centre back to life. It was Valenzuela, though, the No. 9 hitter, who delivered the decisive blow.
“It’s hard to describe it,” Valenzuela said, still beaming a half-hour after the win. “I knew I got it well, but I didn’t know if I got it high enough. It was an amazing feeling when I realized it was getting over the wall.”
There was nothing cheap about it, either. Valenzuela’s scorching line drive left his bat at 111.4 mph. He already has a reputation as a rock-solid defender with a great arm, but there’s some sneaky pop to Valenzuela. If he’s putting up exit velocities over 110 mph with any sort of regularity, there’s some real upside here.
In the Minor Leagues, Valenzuela set a new high with 15 home runs last season split between Double-A with the Padres and Triple-A with the Blue Jays after this front office swung a savvy deal for him at the Trade Deadline, sending Will Wagner to San Diego. Valenzuela is a switch-hitter, and while 11 of those 15 home runs came as a lefty, his career splits show the potential for some pop from both sides.
John Schneider called Valenzuela one of the highlights of Spring Training this year, and whether you talked to coaches or player development staff, everyone kept describing Valenzuela as a big leaguer. At the catching position, that’s a scarce commodity, and particularly valuable in a young player like Valenzuela who’s under team control for years to come.
“I’m excited for him,” Kevin Gausman said after Valenzuela caught him against the Dodgers. “He has all the talent in the world. He has an unbelievable arm. He wants to do better and get better every day and he’s asking a lot of questions. We’re excited to have him and he’s going to be here for a while, it looks like.”
If a rookie has veterans like Gausman praising him, that’s a fine place to start. Players who have been around the game for a decade-plus don’t hand that out for free. It’s a two-way street, too. On top of his countryman, Kirk, Valenzuela is quick to credit those veteran leaders for welcoming him into this team and its culture.
“The guys in the locker room like Vladdy, George [Springer], [Daulton] Varsho, they’ve all been in my corner since I got to the team in Spring Training,” Valenzuela said. “They gave me the confidence that I needed for this moment.”
The Blue Jays are still looking at roughly six weeks without Kirk, so even if this isn’t the way anyone wanted it to happen, this is Valenzuela’s opening.
“He’s checking off firsts,” Schneider said. “First hit and first RBI in Chicago. First home run. That was awesome. We needed that. He was convicted to an approach. I think it was 1-0 after a fastball up and he wasn’t afraid to take a shot. That’s something we’ve talked about with him since Spring Training.”
He’s 25 now, so while Valenzuela is still ranked as a prospect (Blue Jays No. 24), he’s not a kid. Tyler Heineman will still take the lion’s share of reps over the next month-plus, but Valenzuela will see plenty of playing time, and if he puts up some offensive numbers on top of his strong defense, we could soon be talking about how that changes his timeline.
Valenzuela profiles as Kirk’s long-term backup, which could be a fantastic tandem. Obviously, the fact Valenzuela has option years remaining will give Heineman the clear advantage for the backup role when Kirk returns, but this is also a team with World Series aspirations. The best 26 players need to be on the roster, and at the very least, Valenzuela has a bigger opening than anyone expected to make his case.