When the Toronto Blue Jays need a catcher, they look to the south of the country due south of their border.
After starting catcher Alejandro Kirk suffered a thumb injury, the Blue Jays called up prospect Brandon Valenzuela, replacing a native of Mexico on the roster with another Mexican catcher.
Kirk, 27, suffered a dislocation and fracture of his left thumb catching a foul tip in Friday’s loss to the Chicago White Sox, and the Jays placed him on the 10-Day Injured List. They called up Valenzuela this morning to replace him, though he did not start Saturday’s game at Rate Field in Chicago.
Now in his seventh season with Toronto, Kirk has a career slash line of .267/.343/.398 with 52 homers and 265 RBIs in 569 games. He went 4-for-15 with a double, a homer, and four RBIs for Mexico at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Valenzuela, 25, has appeared in just 57 games at the Triple-A level, playing 27 games with El Paso in the San Diego Padres organization in 2024 before coming to the Jays in a 2025 trade that sent third baseman Will Wagner to the Padres. His slash line a step away from MLB is .201/.294/.315, and he’s hit four homers and driven in 20 runs in 212 plate appearances in El Paso and Buffalo.
The Hermosillo, Sonora native has also played 30 games with the Naranjeros de Hermosillo in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico over parts of two seasons, batting .265 in 83 at-bats.
Photo: New York Yankees’ Ali Sánchez, right, scores behind Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela on an RBI double by Trent Grisham during the third inning of a spring training baseball game Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
