Blue Jays make multiple roster moves as Alejandro Kirk lands on the Injured List

The Toronto Blue Jays made a few roster moves ahead of their series opener with the Miami Marlins on Monday.

Alejandro Kirk is heading to the 10-day Injured List with a left hand laceration. He was hit by a pitch in the second inning of Toronto’s game with the Texas Rangers on Sunday and was pulled in favour of Danny Jansen. X-Rays came back negative but the Blue Jays aren’t taking any risks with their young catcher.

Coming up in Kirk’s absence will be third-string backstop, Tyler Heineman. He was up with the Blue Jays earlier in the month while Jansen was injured and went 3-for-10 with three strikeouts and three walks. The 32-year-old has slashed a .236/.364/.364 line in Triple-A this season.

The team is also swapping a tired arm for a fresh one, as Bowden Francis is headed to Buffalo while Trent Thornton is coming up from the Bisons.

Francis pitched two-and-two-thirds scoreless innings during Toronto’s bullpen day on Saturday and has a 3.68 ERA through three appearances with the Blue Jays this season. Thornton hasn’t yet pitched in the big leagues this season but he has a 3.04 ERA over 18 outings in Triple-A. He owns a 4.84 ERA over 255 innings with the Blue Jays for his career.

The Blue Jays will send José Berríos to the mound on Monday, Yusei Kikuchi will start on Tuesday, and Kevin Gausman will finish off the series on Wednesday afternoon. They have a day off on Thursday before starting a three-game series with the Oakland A’s so the Blue Jays would be able to skip their next bullpen day and start Chris Bassitt against his former club on regular rest on Friday.