Blue Jays All-Star has fractured thumb, immediately placed on injured list
The Toronto Blue Jays placed two-time All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk on the injured list April 4 with a left thumb fracture. Kirk was injured on a foul tip in the 10th inning of a 5-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox on April 3. Catcher Brandon Valenzuela was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place on the Jays’ active roster.
MORE: Blue Jays All-Star immediately leaves game after scary injury Kirk was forced to leave the Jays’ most recent game after Austin Hays’ foul tip scraped the edge of his glove. He grabbed his thumb, motioned toward the visitors’ dugout at Rate Field, and immediately left the field with an athletic trainer. Kirk, 27, is a two-time All-Star (2022 and 2025) who won the American League Silver Slugger Award at catcher in 2022.
He had two hits in his first 18 at-bats (. 125) to start the 2026 season. The injury to Kirk is the latest health setback to the defending American League champions in the early going of the 2026 season.
MORE: Blue Jays get bad news on Cody Ponce’s knee injury Earlier this week pitcher Cody Ponce suffered a right ACL sprain and will need significant time to recover, possibly the rest of the season. Kirk’s injury leaves the Blue Jays with two catchers on their active roster: Valenzuela and Tyler Heineman, a journeyman backup catcher in his sixth MLB season. The 34-year-old is a career .
243 hitter in 180 MLB games since his 2019 debut with the Miami Marlins. Neither he nor Valenzuela can replace the offensive firepower of Kirk, who backstopped the Jays all the way to the World Series in 2025. Kirk also caught for Team Mexico in the recently completed World Baseball Classic .