Alejandro Kirk gave John Schneider a much better injury update Saturday as the Blue Jays catcher keeps moving toward a return.
Schneider said Kirk's thumb is responding well while he ramps up his catching work, which is the most important part of this update. Kirk is also throwing and hitting as the Blue Jays keep pushing him through the next stage of rehab.
That matters because for a catcher, simply swinging again is not enough. The bigger question is always whether the hand can handle the full grind behind the plate, from receiving to blocking to repeated throws.
This update sounds better than the last one. Earlier in the week, Kirk had started a hitting progression and had been throwing for a while, but he still had not caught yet. Now Schneider is saying he is ramping up the catching side too.
That is the real step forward. It does not mean Kirk is back tomorrow, but it does mean Toronto is finally getting movement in the part of his recovery that matters most for his position.
Kirk has been out since early April after fracturing his left thumb and undergoing surgery, which left the Blue Jays scrambling to patch the catching spot around Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela.
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Toronto's catching picture could change soon
This is where the timing starts to matter for the roster. Valenzuela has made a real case for himself during Kirk's absence, while Heineman has had a much rougher run at the plate.
So every positive Kirk update is not just about 1 player getting healthier. It is also about a catching decision getting closer for Schneider and the front office.
Toronto still has to be careful. A thumb injury for a catcher can look fine in lighter work and still become a problem once the daily workload ramps all the way up. That is why this remains a progress story, not a return-date story.
But the tone is clearly better now. Kirk is catching again, throwing, hitting, and getting the kind of response from the thumb the Blue Jays wanted to see.
For a team that has spent weeks waiting on injured players to take real baseball steps, that counts as meaningful progress. Alejandro Kirk is not back yet, but the Blue Jays finally have an update that points in the right direction.
Should the Blue Jays keep taking it slow with Alejandro Kirk even as he ramps up catching?
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