Tyler

Heineman

O’Hoppe was forced to leave Friday’s game when he took a foul ball off the helmet. He’ll sit with Tyler Heineman handling catching duties and hitting Sonny Gray and the Boston staff.

Heineman heads to Los Angeles to back up starter Logan O’Hoppe following his removal from Toronto’s catching mix last week. The 34-year-old was clearly passed by rookie Brandon Valenzuela and lost hit spot with the Blue Jays once starter Alejandro Kirk returned from the injured list. He’s a strong defender, but doesn’t offer much at the plate anymore. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.

He lost his spot on the active roster to Brandon Valenzuela, who pretty cleanly outplayed the 34-year-old veteran. It’s possible he’ll draw interest on waivers because of how he performed in 2025, but Heineman was hitting just .154/.205/.205 in 87 plate appearances this year.

Heineman appeared to be dealing with a back or side issue late in the game was checked on by the trainer, but he stayed in to finish the game. Heineman, who is batting .152/.188/.197 in 73 plate appearances, has fallen behind Brandon Valenzuela on the catcher depth chart with Alejandro Kirk out, which could lead to a difficult decision for the Jays in a couple of weeks. Heineman is out of options, but Valenzuela is pretty obviously the better player. The Jays will have to figure out whether or not it’s worth weakening the club and sending down Valenzuela to preserve its catching depth.

He had missed the last five games with the injury. Brandon Valenzuela will take a seat on Thursday for some well-deserved rest after covering several games in a row. Heineman is only a fantasy factor in the deepest of leagues, but it’s good to see that he was apparently able to avoid the injured list.

Brandon Valenzuela will make his fifth consecutive start behind the plate in this one. Heineman has been on the shelf for nearly a week at this point due to back spasms. He would presumably be available off the bench in an emergency situation but Toronto is clearly trying to stay away from him until the issue subsides.

It’ll be rookie backstop Brandon Valenzuela making his fourth straight start behind the dish while Heineman remains sidelined with back spasms. It’s possible he’ll require a trip to the injured list at some point this week to enable Toronto to bring up some emergency catching depth.

That explains why Heineman didn’t play at all over the weekend while rookie Brandon Valenzuela draws his third consecutive start. Heineman is considered day-to-day and should return to action early next week.

It’s not a worst-case scenario after Kirk underwent a procedure to address a fracture in his left thumb that involved inserting a screw, according to Blue Jays manager John Schneider. The 27-year-old backstop will be on the shelf until at least mid-May. There should be an exact timetable once he’s cleared to resume baseball activities and head out on a rehab assignment. It’ll be Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela handling the catching duties in his absence.

With Alejandro Kirk on the injured list with a thumb injury, Heineman will get most of the starts behind the plate. Tuesday is an exception, however, as Brandon Valenzuela will catch Kevin Gausman and hit ninth.