With Alejandro Kirk being out since April 3rd in Chicago, the platoon of Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela has been on full display for Blue Jays fans.

With the team currently hovering around .500 for the first time since that series against the White Sox, the team has discovered its offensive strength. They have won 6 of their last 10 games, and currently sit third in the AL East.

Kirk is slated to start swinging a bat later this week, and the expectation will be that he finds himself in some rehab games later this month.

The question when Kirk comes back is more about who he will platoon with behind the plate. With Heineman and Valenzuela working as a tandem now, many could potentially see Heineman sticking around, as Valenzuela could be easily optioned down to Triple-A Buffalo as part of the business side of baseball. However, the numbers show it could be more beneficial for the team to keep Valenzuela up and potentially parting ways with the 35-year-old Heineman.

Offensively, even though not by a huge margin, Valenzuela has the slight edge.

In 48 at-bats this season, he owns a .208/.255/.396 slash line with an OPS of .651. For comparison, Heineman has hit .176/.222/.176 with an OPS of .399 so far this season. Valenzuela has also recorded more RBIs with his 3-run home run on Saturday against the Twins, now putting up six compared to Heineman’s two. Valnezuela has now hit three home runs this season, two from the left side and one from the right side. Heineman has yet to record an extra-base hit all season.

While the offensive numbers don’t tell the full story, defensively, the nod goes to Valenzuela.

Behind the plate, despite some early rookie mistakes, the 25-year old rookie is proving to be a capable catcher with framing pitches. Both Heineman and Valenzuela are in the top 10 in MLB amongst framing pitches. While Heineman does have more errors (3) than Valenzuela (2), the other things are worth noting.

Comparing both catchers’ fielding percentage, Valenzuela has the slight edge (.984) over Heineman (.981), Valenzuelas arm strength is also on full display, as the numbers with runners stealing bases benefit the rookie over the veteran. Valenzuela is 5 for 11 (45.5%) with throwing out runners, while Heineman boasts a 3 for 15 mark (20%).

In short, while it’s easy to say let Valenzuela back up Kirk upon his return, we are still a ways away from that happening.

The best thing to look at as of now is to hope for both players to succeed in the roles they have. While the easy paper transaction is to send Valenzuela down to be the starting catcher for the Buffalo Bisons, if he keeps playing the way he has over the last little while, it could ultimately prompt the Blue Jays to keep him in the majors.

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