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I'm under no illusion that Valenzuela will be this locked in at the plate forever but the longer he sustains this current hot streak the more this starts to feel like a legitimate breakout vs simply being a hot streak. He completely flipped the switch since dropping the leg kick and it's like he's unlocked a new offensive ceiling. Sooner or later his timing will start to slip a bit and opposing pitchers will start to key on his weaknesses but the way Valenzuela has gone about producing doesn't feel like a fluke. He's producing tremendous plate appearances for anyone let alone a rookie as he's avoiding the chase unlike the rest of his teammates, hunting mistake pitches that he can hammer, fouling off a ton of pitches to stay alive and taking his walks when presented to him.

I don't tend to agree. I fully support Varland entering games before the 9th in higher leverage situations when warranted. This 9th inning only "closer" mindset is exactly what led to Zack Britton being left to rot in the bullpen in a win or go home wild card game.

Protection for Vlad isn't going to matter one iota until he stops chasing pitches that he has no chance to do damage with.

Ultimately I think there's a ton of value in possessing two starter quality catchers even if it doesn't necessarily maximize the strength of the roster. I think the injury insurance aspect shouldn't be ignored as if either catcher hits the injured list the other player would simply take over starting duties. Kirk has made plenty of injured list appearances in his career and if this were to occur with Valenzuela being traded away you are left with a backup starting and a depth player as backup. I think that with Kirk possessing the type of heavyset physique he features he's likely better served starting something like 4 times per week in order to keep him fresh and healthy, and the team tends to pinch run for him later in games. With a starter quality backup you can substitute for Kirk and hardly miss a beat and if either player is a little beat up and needs a day or two off you can be confident in the backup to keep the ball rolling. It could also prove to be difficult to receive appropriate trade value in return. I recall it was mentioned that the Blue Jays tended to value their 3 starter quality backstops more than opposing general managers back when Jansen and Moreno were part of the 3 headed monster, and with Valenzuela being more of a breakout player with less history of performance it's impossible to know what the trade offers would look like. Opposing teams already undervalued what Kirk brings in the past and this could certainly be the case yet again.

This version of Varland is dramatically more effective than the guy that pitched in the post season last year.

We shall see how the front office ends up proceeding. They ended up keeping Jansen around until his last season of control and didn't trade him until the trade deadline approached so it's entirely possible that they decide to run with a Mexican super duo moving forward behind the plate. I think that once Springer is gone this will open up plenty of DH at bats for Kirk and this is a perfect way to maximize his value to the club.

I think a Kirk/Valenzuela tandem would be incredibly potent similar to the days where the team enjoyed the Kirk/Jansen duo. Except in this instance both catchers are elite defenders.

"Turning into"? He's already shown himself to be an impact level defender with an elite combination of framing and throwing. I think the game calling and blocking need work but he can continue to hone his craft at the major league level.

And you are still an idiot to even make posts like this.

The team very well may not have had the lead by that point.

His 6.92 BB/9 walk rate would fit in perfectly with the Buffalo pen.

Heineman has been hopeless with the bat but there's bound to be a team that would claim him if placed on waivers. For instance Sandy Leon has been catching for the Braves with a bat worse bat than Heineman has displayed.

If he continues to mash as he has for the last 5-6 weeks this could be an actual possibility along with occasional DH starts for Kirk as well. Springer has been hitting better in recent weeks with a 120'ish wRC+ but he's shown no signs of peak summer of George this season at any point.

He's one of the more likable players I can recall ever playing for the Blue Jays in my 40 years of following the team.

It seemed very fitting that Ernie ended the game making a tricky short hop play look easy.

Heineman dramatically outproduced his underlying numbers last season and was an easy guy to pencil in for regression. I think it's just a case of a 35 year old catcher with limited offensive talents no longer possessing the necessary skills to produce anything at the plate.

That's not remotely true. Valenzuela has been the defacto starting catcher since shortly after Kirk went down and Heineman has been benched and called out by Schneider publicly as well.

He's literally been MLB's worst hitter this season and has shown minimal signs of emerging from a season long slump.

He's suddenly up to 123 wrC+ on the season.

Hopefully he's put the defensive slump behind him. He's been having a really nice season with the bat but has been making a ton of uncharacteristic errors in the field.

Yeah that could be an option, but we shall see how Kirk performs with the bat coming off of the broken thumb.

I think that blocking is really the only area that Valenzuela needs to improve, and I see no reason that this can't continue at the major league level after Kirk returns. I am somewhat expecting Kirk to be brought along pretty carefully early on upon his return and this opens the potential for a 1A/1B tandem that would be the best catching duo in MLB. This would also open up more pinch running opportunities when Kirk reaches base late in games and allow the team to hardly miss a beat with Valenzuela being inserted into the game, and this would also open up more DH and pinch hitting opportunities for Kirk as well given the quality of backup the team enjoys.

Valenzuela has been an impact player on both sides of the ball since dropping the leg kick. I think he's fully earned the right to stay in the majors once Kirk is ready to return.

I think it would be an awfully tall order to expect Clement to take over starting duties in center field despite hardly having played the outfield in the majors.

Why on earth would a compensation pick be worthless? If the team is serious about attempting to compete Varsho is the only legitimate full time center field option in the organization and removing him would seriously weaken the team.