Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk left Friday's loss against the Chicago White Sox with an apparent hand injury, and unfortunately the news on Saturday is not good.

As noted by Blue Jays reporter Keegan Matheson, Kirk has a fractured left thumb and is headed to the injured list. 

The team has called up minor leaguer Brandon Valenzuela in the interim and he'll split time with veteran Tyler Heineman.

Here's additional information on what you need to know:

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet also posted an additional update after this story was originally posted.

Alejandro Kirk will have his thumb evaluated by a specialist Monday. That will inform next steps — timeline and whether surgery is required.

Thumb was dislocated as well. Has since been put back in place. Fracture is near knuckle towards top of thumb.

Now 27-years-old, Kirk is already a seven-year veteran of the Blue Jays. A two-time All-Star, he's one of the best contact hitters in the league and a leader of the pitching staff. He's a career .267 hitter with 52 homers and 265 RBIs. He hit .282 a season ago as the Blue Jays advanced to Game 7 of the World Series.

He's out to a .150 start this season through just five games with a homer and two RBIs.

He also represented Mexico at the World Baseball Classic this March.

Now 25 years old, Valenzuela is ranked as the No. 24 prospect in the team's farm system by MLB Pipeline.

Signed in 2017, also out of Mexico, he hit .224 last season at Double-A and Triple-A. He's just a career .242 hitter in the minor leagues, and he had a career-high 15 homers in 2025.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Valenzuela’s value has long been his defensive work. He’s an impressive receiver and manages the pitching staff well, but the first trait brought up by those around him is his throwing arm. Valenzuela projects to be well above average at controlling the running game at the next level and has thrown out over 30 percent of runners in three of his last four seasons. At the dish, Valenzuela is a switch-hitter who’s well balanced from either side, and while his 15 home runs in 2025 probably represent his power ceiling, that’s more than enough if his defense remains such a strength.

--Because of all the injuries in the starting rotation, the Blue Jays have signed free agent starting pitcher Patrick Corbin, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers. He'll help cover for the absences of Cody Ponce, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios, all of who are on the injured list.

--Speaking of Yesavage, he made his season debut on Friday at Single-A Dunedin, tossing 2.2 innings. He threw 44 pitches in total and struck out three. He's slated to be the first injured pitcher to return for Toronto.

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