Tyler Heineman has been placed on waivers, and Daulton Varsho has been placed on the injured list

Things are heating up with the Blue Jays.

As expected, the team has activated Alejandro Kirk from the 60-day injured list. He'll be able to play against the Yankees tonight as the cleanup hitter.

To make room for him, the Blue Jays had to clear a spot on the active roster (26 players) as well as on the 40-man roster. A player on the 60-day injured list is excluded from the 40-man roster.

To achieve this, the Blue Jays opted to designate veteran Tyler Heineman for assignment.

We'll come back to that.

The club also announced that Daulton Varsho would be heading to the injured list and that Davis Schneider was therefore back on the active roster. Yariel Rodriguez, meanwhile, is heading to Triple-A… but that doesn't change anything for the Blue Jays' active roster.

Despite Heineman's success in 2025, the veteran's importance in the locker room and the organizational depth at the catcher position made keeping Brandon Valenzuela increasingly necessary.

A way had to be found to do so, and Heineman, who is having a rough season, ended up taking the hit.

We'll see if he gets claimed off waivers. There's a (slim) chance we'll see him back in Triple-A, which would be ideal for the organization.

Moving forward, the Blue Jays now have a dynamic duo in Alejandro Kirk and Brandon Valenzuela. That's really ideal.

In the outfield, seeing Schneider back (who was getting back into the swing of things in the minors) is interesting. However, this comes at the expense of Daulton Varsho's health, as his wrist isn't 100%. It's better to take the time to heal, even though the Blue Jays were hoping to avoid the injured list in his case.

Schneider will bat eighth and play left field behind Trey Yesavage as he returns to action.

Quietly, the injury list is taking on a new look. Especially when you consider that Shane Bieber and Yimi Garcia are nearing a return.

In addition to Varsho, Bieber, and Garcia, Addison Barger, Anthony Santander, Lenyn Sosa, Joe Mantiply, Lazaro Estrada, Cody Ponce, and Jose Berrios are also on the list. The latter two won't be back this year—unless a miracle happens for Ponce.

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