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Tyler Heineman of the Blue Jays.

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider explained why he removed catcher Tyler Heineman from Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

The Blue Jays lost 4-3 on Sunday to the Twins, earning a 2-2 split in the four-game series after a late rally attempt in the ninth inning came up short.

One of the big talking points from the game came in the sixth inning. After Heineman flew out with the bases loaded during his at-bat in the top of the inning, Schneider removed him from the game and replaced him with rookie Brandon Valenzuela.

There was immediate speculation by fans if there was some sort of injury, but according to the skipper, the decision to remove Heineman was not injury-motivated.

“Manager’s decision,” Schneider bluntly told reporters when they asked why he benched Heineman (via Keegan Matheson).

Tyler Heineman Responds After Being Benched

After the game, Heineman spoke to reporters and gave his response to the surprise benching. The veteran backup catcher has struggled during his last handful of games, and with the Blue Jays needing a spark to get back into the game on Sunday against the Twins, he understood why Schneider benched him.

“I think it’s just the situation, everything that’s been going on. I just didn’t get it done. It’s the manager’s decision. I stick by it. He’s one of the best managers in the game and the best manager I’ve played for,” Heineman said.

“That at-bat was pretty trash. I popped up on a pitch I should have drove. I’ve been pretty crappy the past 10 games or so. He probably saw something he shouldn’t have saw or that I did wrong. He made a decision,” added Heineman.

Blue Jays Desperately Awaiting Alejandro Kirk’s Return

After he went down early in the season, the Blue Jays have been without All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk. Not only is Kirk one of the best-hitting catchers in MLB, but he’s also elite defensively. While Heineman and Valenzuela have been trying their best to provide production at the catcher’s spot, the team desperately needs its starting backstop to return to the lineup.

Fortunately, Kirk has been making good progress in his recovery from surgery on his broken thumb, and there is optimism that he can return at the end of May or in early June. The team really needs him to return sooner rather than later, as they are clearly missing him behind the dish. But the Blue Jays also need to make sure that Kirk is 100% healthy before he returns.

In the meantime, the Blue Jays will continue to use a combination of Heineman and Valenzuela behind the plate while Kirk recovers from his injury. With Heineman struggling so much as of late, look for the team to give Valenzuela more starts in the next little while until Kirk returns.

When he does, the Blue Jays will face a difficult decision of whether to keep Valenzuela as the team’s backup catcher, as he has options remaining, or ride with Heineman despite him being the inferior player at this point, as trying to send him down would mean they have to DFA him.