{"id":662049,"date":"2026-04-04T03:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/662049\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:07:49","slug":"jays-alejandro-kirk-thumb-injured-by-foul-tip-set-for-x-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/662049\/","title":{"rendered":"Jays’ Alejandro Kirk (thumb) injured by foul tip, set for X-rays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bradford DoolittleApr 3, 2026, 06:53 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
\nFormer NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
\nBeen with ESPN since 2013<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

CHICAGO — Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> catcher Alejandro Kirk<\/a> took himself out of Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox<\/a> in the 10th inning Friday, when he was struck on his glove hand by a foul tip off the bat of Austin Hays<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kirk walked off the field with the Blue Jays’ training staff while he was holding his injured hand.<\/p>\n

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after the team’s 5-4 loss<\/a> that Kirk was undergoing X-rays and the extent of his injury was not yet known.<\/p>\n

“It’s more thumb,” Schneider, a former catcher, said. “It sucks. That hurts, especially on a cold day. So, just hoping that it’s nothing serious. He’s about as tough as they come, so for him to come out, you don’t love it.”<\/p>\n

Toronto led 4-3 when Kirk was replaced by Tyler Heineman<\/a>. With one out and automatic runner Miguel Vargas<\/a> on third, Hays struck out against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Derek Hill<\/a>, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning, laid down a bunt, which Heineman fielded but threw wide to first. HIll advanced to second, and Vargas scored the tying run on the error.<\/p>\n

Chicago manager Will Venable encouraged Hill to bunt “if they’re playing back.” The Blue Jays’ change at catcher also influenced the decision.<\/p>\n

“Like, [Venable] said, if they’re playing back, and you got a new guy coming in, you never know,” Hill said. “Put the ball in play and good things happen. I just wanted to try and get it a little bit down the third-base side.”<\/p>\n

One pitch later, Chicago’s Tristan Peters<\/a> stroked a single to right, plating Hill for the walk-off win. In the Blue Jays’ clubhouse, the talk was about Kirk’s injury and Hill’s bunt.<\/p>\n

“It’s tough play for a catcher, especially coming in right there cold,” Schneider said. “[Heineman] was ready to go. We know Hill is a bunt threat.”<\/p>\n

According to Schneider, if Kirk, a two-time All-Star, has to miss time, he’d likely be replaced by Brandon Valenzuela, a 25-year-old who started the season in Triple-A and is on Toronto’s 40-man roster. Valenzuela has yet to make his big league debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bradford DoolittleApr 3, 2026, 06:53 PM ET CloseMLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com Former NBA writer and analyst…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,2328,2304,4,2305,2303],"class_list":{"0":"post-662049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-playoffs","13":"tag-mlb-postseason"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116344240066927416","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}