When <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/heinety01.shtml">Tyler Heineman</a> stepped on the mound in the ninth inning last night, he likely wasn&#8217;t aware he was setting a franchise record. With the catcher being used in mop-up duty in the 15-5 defeat by the Miami Marlins, he became the fourth position player used in a game situation this year &#8211; which sets a new single-season franchise high for the Blue Jays.
The high before that was at three, a tie between two different years. The first was the 1980 Blue Jays, who used Bob Bailor on three separate occasions and the other was the 2019 squad who used Luke Maile twice and Richard Ureña once to get through the season. With Heineman toeing the rubber last night, he became the fourth occurrence of the campaign, as Isiah Kiner-Falefa pitched twice for the Blue Jays before being traded while Ernie Clement also took a turn on the mound.
The first instance of the Jays using a position player on the mound was Craig Kusick in 1979.  With the score 22-2 in favour of the California Angels, Kusick came on in relief in the top of the sixth inning. He allowed three hits and two earned runs through his 3 2/3 innings with zero walks and zero strikeouts. Fun fact &#8211; his ERA over those three innings is better than Luis Frias,  Jose Cuas, and newcomer Brett de Geus &#8211; although the sample size is a major factor.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Tyler Heineman gave the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> their first inning of scoreless relief tonight, touching 67.1 mph, to keep the deficit at 10.
This is among the strangest sentences I&#39;ve typed while sober.
&mdash; Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1839850980919410948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Jays also hold a <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2581160-blue-jays-cliff-pennington-becomes-1st-position-player-to-pitch-in-playoffs">not-so-nice record</a> in that they were the first team to ever use a position player on the mound during the postseason.  They called upon Cliff Pennington in Game 4 of the 2015 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals after Mark Lowe hit a batter in the ninth inning with two outs on the board. Pennington allowed two hits through 1/3 of the ninth inning.
The current list of position players used for the Blue Jays in a pitching situation is below:
1979: Craig Kusick 
1980: Bob Bailor (x3) 
1984: Rick Leach 
2004: Frank Menechino 
2011: Mike McCoy 
2012: Jeff Mathis (x2) 
2015: Cliff Pennington (playoffs) 
2016: Darwin Barney / Ryan Goins 
2018: Kendrys Morales 
2019: Luke Maile (X2) / Richard Ureña 
2020: Santiago Espinal (X2) 
2022: Whit Merrifield 
2023: Ernie Clement 
2024: Isiah Kiner-Falefa (X2) / Ernie Clement / Tyler Heineman
The use of position players on the mound has been used for a long time in the game of baseball but has gained steam over the past few years when ballgames get out of hand. With the score run up and a comeback unlikely, why use a bullpen arm that can be saved for another day?
Especially in this day and age where players play multiple positions growing up, using someone on the bench can provide a bit of stability for a manager looking to save pitchers for another rainy day.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Ernie Clement makes a pitching appearance in the top of the ninth inning. 😮 <a href="https://t.co/CoWUWA3A0H">pic.twitter.com/CoWUWA3A0H</a>
&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1816595637330199003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This makes sense for the Jays, who boast one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball.
Manager John Schneider has called upon Kiner-Falefa, Clement, and Heineman all when the scores were out of hand &#8211; a rule instituted <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/automatic-runner-permanent-new-mlb-rules-for-position-players-pitching">before the 2023</a> season regarding when teams could use a position player on the mound. This was due to teams using position players for pitching when their team was winning by a lopsided margin, rather than the opposite, with the same idea in mind of saving dedicated arms for actual useful scenarios.
Nevertheless, the use of Heineman last night was another notch on the belt of a disappointing campaign for the Blue Jays. Considering the Jays were playing after an off-day on Thursday with an extra pitcher in the pen due to the September call-up rules, the backstop likely didn&#8217;t even need to be used, but that&#8217;s an argument for another day.

When <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/heinety01.shtml">Tyler Heineman</a> stepped on the mound in the ninth inning last night, he likely wasn't aware he was setting a franchise record. With the catcher being used in mop-up duty in the 15-5 defeat by the Miami Marlins, he became the fourth position player used in a game situation this year - which sets a new single-season franchise high for the Blue Jays.

The high before that was at three, a tie between two different years. The first was the 1980 Blue Jays, who used Bob Bailor on three separate occasions and the other was the 2019 squad who used Luke Maile twice and Richard Ureña once to get through the season. With Heineman toeing the rubber last night, he became the fourth occurrence of the campaign, as Isiah Kiner-Falefa pitched twice for the Blue Jays before being traded while Ernie Clement also took a turn on the mound.

The first instance of the Jays using a position player on the mound was Craig Kusick in 1979.  With the score 22-2 in favour of the California Angels, Kusick came on in relief in the top of the sixth inning. He allowed three hits and two earned runs through his 3 2/3 innings with zero walks and zero strikeouts. Fun fact - his ERA over those three innings is better than Luis Frias,  Jose Cuas, and newcomer Brett de Geus - although the sample size is a major factor.

https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1839850980919410948

The Jays also hold a <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2581160-blue-jays-cliff-pennington-becomes-1st-position-player-to-pitch-in-playoffs">not-so-nice record</a> in that they were the first team to ever use a position player on the mound during the postseason.  They called upon Cliff Pennington in Game 4 of the 2015 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals after Mark Lowe hit a batter in the ninth inning with two outs on the board. Pennington allowed two hits through 1/3 of the ninth inning.

The current list of position players used for the Blue Jays in a pitching situation is below:

1979: Craig Kusick
1980: Bob Bailor (x3)
1984: Rick Leach
2004: Frank Menechino
2011: Mike McCoy
2012: Jeff Mathis (x2)
2015: Cliff Pennington (playoffs)
2016: Darwin Barney / Ryan Goins
2018: Kendrys Morales
2019: Luke Maile (X2) / Richard Ureña
2020: Santiago Espinal (X2)
2022: Whit Merrifield
2023: Ernie Clement
2024: Isiah Kiner-Falefa (X2) / Ernie Clement / Tyler Heineman

The use of position players on the mound has been used for a long time in the game of baseball but has gained steam over the past few years when ballgames get out of hand. With the score run up and a comeback unlikely, why use a bullpen arm that can be saved for another day?

Especially in this day and age where players play multiple positions growing up, using someone on the bench can provide a bit of stability for a manager looking to save pitchers for another rainy day.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1816595637330199003

This makes sense for the Jays, who boast one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball.

Manager John Schneider has called upon Kiner-Falefa, Clement, and Heineman all when the scores were out of hand - a rule instituted <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/automatic-runner-permanent-new-mlb-rules-for-position-players-pitching">before the 2023</a> season regarding when teams could use a position player on the mound. This was due to teams using position players for pitching when their team was winning by a lopsided margin, rather than the opposite, with the same idea in mind of saving dedicated arms for actual useful scenarios.

Nevertheless, the use of Heineman last night was another notch on the belt of a disappointing campaign for the Blue Jays. Considering the Jays were playing after an off-day on Thursday with an extra pitcher in the pen due to the September call-up rules, the backstop likely didn't even need to be used, but that's an argument for another day.

Blue Jays set single-season franchise record with use of Tyler Heineman on the mound in lopsided loss against the Marlins

It’s a new season, but the same issue plagues the Blue Jays in 2025

Despite bullpen struggles, the Blue Jays have a bigger problem under the hood

Blue Jays GDB – 37.0: Jays look to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Angels

Throwback Thursday: The Blue Jays acquire Devon White from Angels

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel (18) celebrates after scoring the winning run on a double by right fielder Jorge Soler (12, not pictured) as Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23)walks off the field during the ninth inning at Angel Stadium.

Recent articles from Tyson Shushkewich

Breaking News