Article: The Blue Jays’ Catchers Have Been a Major Strength

[Leo Morgenstern]

Following a slow start to the season, Alejandro Kirk has been red-hot since the end of April. In his last 17 games, he is 24-for-65 (.369) with an .871 OPS and a 148 wRC+. That stretch includes the two most impactful hits of his career, at least according to Win Probability Added. On April 25, with the Blue Jays down by one in the ninth, he knocked a two-run double to deep center field to give Toronto the lead. Three weeks later, he crushed a three-run home run in the sixth that carried the Jays to a 3-1 victory. Due to his recent hot streak, Kirk's full-season numbers (.287 AVG, 95 wRC+) are perfectly respectable, despite his dreadful performance over the first four weeks of the year (.211 AVG, 51 wRC+).

Meanwhile, Tyler Heineman has been hot since day one, albeit in a limited role. Through 18 games and 47 trips to the plate, he's batting .386 (17-for-44) with a .950 OPS and a 171 wRC+. He's hit four doubles and one home run, and he's stolen a couple of bases for good measure. Twenty-five AL catchers have taken more plate appearances than Heineman this year. Only one, Cal Raleigh, has outproduced Heineman in the offensive component of FanGraphs WAR. 

Now, Heineman's performance is absolutely, definitely, without a doubt unsustainable. For one thing, he's running a .457 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). No player in major league history has ever maintained a BABIP that high over more than 150 PA. What's more, he has only drawn two walks on the season, while he's chased at almost half the pitches he's seen outside the strike zone. That's not an approach that can sustain a .950 OPS. Finally, no hitter (min. 25 PA) has a larger gap between his wOBA (.409) and xwOBA (.270). All that to say, if you think Heineman has genuinely broken out as a middle-of-the-order threat, then boy, do I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet, none of that takes away from what Heineman has accomplished thus far in the season. He's already been worth 1.0 fWAR, which is more than many teams get from their backup catcher all season. Even if he is nothing more than replacement level for the rest of the year, the Blue Jays would have no reason not to be happy with his performance.  

Thanks to Kirk heating up and Heineman not yet slowing down, the Blue Jays have gotten more offensive production from their catchers than all but three AL teams (per FanGraphs). They rank first among AL catchers in batting average, third in OBP, and fourth in slugging. They're second in OPS and fourth in wOBA, wRC+, and the offensive component of fWAR. Even better? Their catchers' production at the plate is nothing compared to what they've done behind it.

Kirk has been a defensive stud for years. Since 2022, he has consistently ranked among the league leaders in every pitch framing metric out there. This season has been no exception. He also improved tremendously last year when it came to controlling the running game. He threw out 31% (27 out of 87) of would-be base-stealers and led the AL in Statcast's caught stealing runs above average. That was clearly no fluke, because he has continued to throw out runners at a 30% clip, and he's on pace to top his +8 Statcast caught stealing runs from last season. Kirk is taking on a heavier defensive workload than ever before, and so far, he's thriving.

Heineman, too, has been impressive behind the dish. Indeed, while his bat has stolen the show this year, his glove is the real reason the Blue Jays keep bringing him back. The sample is small, but his framing has graded out well, much like it has throughout his brief career. He has also thrown out more than half of the baserunners (six of 11) who have tried to steal on him. Collectively, he and Kirk have the Blue Jays ranked second in the AL in framing runs, according to both FanGraphs and Statcast. The Blue Jays also lead AL teams in Statcast's caught stealing metric, and they lead all major league teams in the defensive component of FanGraphs WAR.

Altogether, Blue Jays catchers have given their team 2.1 fWAR through the first 48 games of the season. That's a 7.2-win pace. The last time any team got more than 7.0 fWAR from its catchers was in 2022... when Blue Jays backstops led the league with 7.7. Kirk and Heineman (but mostly Kirk) were both a part of that effort, although they also had a lot of help from Danny Jansen, as well as Gabriel Moreno and Zack Collins. The last AL team that wasn't the Blue Jays to get more than 7.0 fWAR from its catchers was the Twins in 2009, Joe Mauer's MVP season. 

Right now, Blue Jays catchers rank second in the AL and third in the majors in fWAR, trailing the Mariners (3.4 fWAR) and Braves (2.4 fWAR). The only position at which the Blue Jays rank higher is center field; just the Cubs, led by Pete Crow-Armstrong, have outperformed the Jays in center. However, Blue Jays catchers have outproduced their center fielders by about a quarter of a win. The numbers at Baseball Prospectus point to the same conclusion; Kirk and Heineman edge out the center field quartet of Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, George Springer, and Nathan Lukes. Of course, the fact that Toronto's catchers have fractionally more WAR than their center fielders isn't what's important. What matters is that this team's catchers have been an undeniable strength. 

Alejandro Kirk is showing why his five-year extension was such a bargain. Tyler Heineman has been a kick-ass backup in his third stint with Toronto. Together, they have made up one of the best catching tandems in the sport. Not everything has gone according to plan for the Jays this season, but their catchers have proven to be a real catch.

All stats and rankings in article updated prior to games on Monday, May 19.

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On 5/20/2025 at 4:55 AM, Leo Morgenstern said:

Following a slow start to the season, Alejandro Kirk has been red-hot since the end of April. In his last 17 games, he is 24-for-65 (.369) with an .871 OPS and a 148 wRC+. That stretch includes the two most impactful hits of his career, at least according to Win Probability Added. On April 25, with the Blue Jays down by one in the ninth, he knocked a two-run double to deep center field to give Toronto the lead. Three weeks later, he crushed a three-run home run in the sixth that carried the Jays to a 3-1 victory. Due to his recent hot streak, Kirk's full-season numbers (.287 AVG, 95 wRC+) are perfectly respectable, despite his dreadful performance over the first four weeks of the year (.211 AVG, 51 wRC+).

Meanwhile, Tyler Heineman has been hot since day one, albeit in a limited role. Through 18 games and 47 trips to the plate, he's batting .386 (17-for-44) with a .950 OPS and a 171 wRC+. He's hit four doubles and one home run, and he's stolen a couple of bases for good measure. Twenty-five AL catchers have taken more plate appearances than Heineman this year. Only one, Cal Raleigh, has outproduced Heineman in the offensive component of FanGraphs WAR. 

Now, Heineman's performance is absolutely, definitely, without a doubt unsustainable. For one thing, he's running a .457 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). No player in major league history has ever maintained a BABIP that high over more than 150 PA. What's more, he has only drawn two walks on the season, while he's chased at almost half the pitches he's seen outside the strike zone. That's not an approach that can sustain a .950 OPS. Finally, no hitter (min. 25 PA) has a larger gap between his wOBA (.409) and xwOBA (.270). All that to say, if you think Heineman has genuinely broken out as a middle-of-the-order threat, then boy, do I have a bridge to sell you.

Yet, none of that takes away from what Heineman has accomplished thus far in the season. He's already been worth 1.0 fWAR, which is more than many teams get from their backup catcher all season. Even if he is nothing more than replacement level for the rest of the year, the Blue Jays would have no reason not to be happy with his performance.  

Thanks to Kirk heating up and Heineman not yet slowing down, the Blue Jays have gotten more offensive production from their catchers than all but three AL teams (per FanGraphs). They rank first among AL catchers in batting average, third in OBP, and fourth in slugging. They're second in OPS and fourth in wOBA, wRC+, and the offensive component of fWAR. Even better? Their catchers' production at the plate is nothing compared to what they've done behind it.

Kirk has been a defensive stud for years. Since 2022, he has consistently ranked among the league leaders in every pitch framing metric out there. This season has been no exception. He also improved tremendously last year when it came to controlling the running game. He threw out 31% (27 out of 87) of would-be base-stealers and led the AL in Statcast's caught stealing runs above average. That was clearly no fluke, because he has continued to throw out runners at a 30% clip, and he's on pace to top his +8 Statcast caught stealing runs from last season. Kirk is taking on a heavier defensive workload than ever before, and so far, he's thriving.

Heineman, too, has been impressive behind the dish. Indeed, while his bat has stolen the show this year, his glove is the real reason the Blue Jays keep bringing him back. The sample is small, but his framing has graded out well, much like it has throughout his brief career. He has also thrown out more than half of the baserunners (six of 11) who have tried to steal on him. Collectively, he and Kirk have the Blue Jays ranked second in the AL in framing runs, according to both FanGraphs and Statcast. The Blue Jays also lead AL teams in Statcast's caught stealing metric, and they lead all major league teams in the defensive component of FanGraphs WAR.

Altogether, Blue Jays catchers have given their team 2.1 fWAR through the first 48 games of the season. That's a 7.2-win pace. The last time any team got more than 7.0 fWAR from its catchers was in 2022... when Blue Jays backstops led the league with 7.7. Kirk and Heineman (but mostly Kirk) were both a part of that effort, although they also had a lot of help from Danny Jansen, as well as Gabriel Moreno and Zack Collins. The last AL team that wasn't the Blue Jays to get more than 7.0 fWAR from its catchers was the Twins in 2009, Joe Mauer's MVP season. 

Right now, Blue Jays catchers rank second in the AL and third in the majors in fWAR, trailing the Mariners (3.4 fWAR) and Braves (2.4 fWAR). The only position at which the Blue Jays rank higher is center field; just the Cubs, led by Pete Crow-Armstrong, have outperformed the Jays in center. However, Blue Jays catchers have outproduced their center fielders by about a quarter of a win. The numbers at Baseball Prospectus point to the same conclusion; Kirk and Heineman edge out the center field quartet of Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, George Springer, and Nathan Lukes. Of course, the fact that Toronto's catchers have fractionally more WAR than their center fielders isn't what's important. What matters is that this team's catchers have been an undeniable strength. 

Alejandro Kirk is showing why his five-year extension was such a bargain. Tyler Heineman has been a kick-ass backup in his third stint with Toronto. Together, they have made up one of the best catching tandems in the sport. Not everything has gone according to plan for the Jays this season, but their catchers have proven to be a real catch.

All stats and rankings in article updated prior to games on Monday, May 19.

 

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