Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Tyler Heineman is one of two catchers on the 40-man roster

The Toronto Blue Jays only have two catchers on their 40-man roster.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Tyler Heineman.

The Blue Jays love Heineman. Selected in the eighth round of the 2012 draft Heineman bounced around organizations until he made his big league debut in 2019 with the Miami Marlins. The next season, he played for the San Francisco Giants before signing a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays before the 2022 season. He had a handful of plate appearances, before being designated for assignment and being claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In late April 2023, the Blue Jays traded Vinny Capra to the Pirates for Heineman after he was once again designated for assignment. He spent most of the 2023 season with the Bisons but played a handful of games in September. The Jays designated him for assignment again in Dec. 2023, this time being claimed by the New York Mets and eventually traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Heineman was waived by the Red Sox in September, with the Jays promptly claiming their favourite player in franchise history. In 13 plate appearances with the Jays, the catcher slashed .100/.308/.100. However, Heineman had a successful season in the minor leagues, slashing .253/.379/.401 with six home runs in 199 plate appearances with the Red Sox’s Triple-A team. He also pitched an inning with the Jays where he didn’t give up a run.

The 33-year-old has never hit well in the big leagues, and that is reflected in his Fangraphs projections. Steamer has Heineman slashing .211/.297/.301 with two home runs in 130 plate appearances. His best projection is from ATC which has him slashing .206/.297/.307 with three home runs in 195 plate appearances while OOPSY has him slashing .211/.297/.293 with one home run in 141 plate appearances.

As it stands, the Blue Jays have two catchers on the 40-man roster – Heineman and Alejandro Kirk. If they don’t plan on adding a full-time backup catcher, they’re entirely comfortable using Heineman in that role as he’s been an above-average defensive catcher through his career.