Alejandro Kirk’s impending return from injury couldn’t come at a better time for the Blue Jays.
Not only will the聽all-star catcher聽rejoin the Jays after just two wins and a staff ERA of 8.24 in seven games without him, but he’ll be back just as Tyler Heineman might be going down.
Kirk suffered a concussion when he was hit on the mask by a Wenceel P茅rez foul tip in the Jays’ 6-1 win in Detroit on July 26. With him on the shelf, the club lost four straight games, allowing a total of 40 runs.
“There’s a natural trust factor with him (for the pitchers),” manager John Schneider said before Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals at the Rogers Centre. “Not that there isn’t with (backups Ali S谩nchez and Heineman), but I think that Kirky can do some things. He’s able to probably steal a midcount strike better than most and get ahead in counts.”
Kirk caught seven innings with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Friday, picked a runner off third base and went 1-for-3 with a two-run single. He was supposed to DH for the Bisons on Saturday night, but those plans changed when Heineman took a foul tip by John Rave off the mask in the third inning of Saturday’s Jays win. After a long delay, Heineman finished the inning and batted in the bottom of the frame. He was hit by a pitch, then made an outstanding read of a Davis Schneider blooper and scored from second base to give the Jays a 2-0 lead.
The 34-year-old Heineman did not come out for defence in the top of the fourth, with the Jays saying he left with a head contusion.
“That happens when you get hit in the mask,” said manager Schneider, who knows that feeling well having spent six years catching in the minors before transitioning to coaching. “You have a little bit of an adrenalin rush there. You probably feel a little bit worse ... He wanted to keep going, felt like he could keep going. Unfortunately you’ve got to take it out of their hands sometimes.”
Heineman missed a week and a half with a concussion in late May.
Springer update
Jays home run leader George Springer suffered a concussion on July 28 when he was hit in the head by a Kade Strowd fastball in the ninth inning of an 11-4 loss in Baltimore. He took batting practice Friday and Saturday, and the Jays hope to activate him during a three-game road series against the Colorado Rockies that begins Monday night.
”(He’s) feeling better, doing stuff,” Schneider said before Saturday’s game. “Hopefully he can be a minimum stay (on the injured list).”
Springer is eligible to be activated Tuesday, but will likely play a rehab game with Buffalo that day. He could join the Jays on Wednesday, but that would be a day game in Denver after a Bisons night game in Worcester, Mass. So the likeliest scenario is that Springer returns for a series against the Dodgers starting Friday in Los Angeles.
Hit king Bichette
Bo Bichette had three hits Saturday, increasing his season total to 137聽鈥 tops in the major leagues聽鈥 and pushing his batting average to .297.
Over his last 22 games, Bichette is hitting a scorching .402 with only one home run, but 13 doubles, 17 RBIs and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.025, including a club-record run of nine straight hits on July 27 and 28.
The 27-year-old shortstop led the American League in hits in聽each of his last two full, healthy seasons.
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