Catching prospect, who could be in the majors very soon, among six cut by Blue Jays

A catching prospect that has been known more for his defensive capabilities rather than his offense, broke out in a big way during Spring Training. Brandon Valenzuela completely took advantage of the playing time that was given to him and made an impact in the 11 games he played in for the Blue Jays in their Grapefruit League schedule.

In 27 plate appearances, Valenzuela slashed .304/.370/.478 with a .375 BABIP. With primary catcher Alejandro Kirk playing at the World Baseball Classic for Mexico, his fellow countryman Valenzuela was able to establish himself as a player that should be on the shortlist to earning a call up in 2026.

Brandon Valenzuela put himself on the shortlist to earning a call up in 2026 with his play in Spring Training.

With the regular season nearing, the Blue Jays have to start honing in on what their Opening Day lineup is going to look like, and start giving their 26-man roster players more playing time to ramp up for the beginning of the season on March 27. With that in mind, the Blue Jays trimmed their Major League camp roster by six players earlier this week, and that included sending Valenzuela to Triple-A Buffalo, where he will begin the season.

It's where Valenzuela ended 20265, as the 25-year-old played 26 games there for the Bisons after Toronto acquired him at the deadline in exchange for infielder Will Wagner from the San Diego Padres. Valenzuela hit .207/.295/.370 in 105 plate appearances, and was brought to camp with the knowledge that Kirk would likely be leaving to represent his nation at the WBC. It was expected that Valenzuela would get into some games and continue to build upon his defensive foundation, while learning to work with some of the Blue Jays' pitchers who are slated for the big league roster.

What was unexpected was Valenzuela swinging a hot bat in Dunedin. In fact he did such a good job in spring that Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote about Valenzuela in his article detailing one player from each MLB team who is turning heads this spring. Bowden says Valenzuela's hit tools were questionable prior to the spring, but Blue Jays front office executives are impressed with his progress.

Tyler Heinemann, who was Toronto's main backup catcher last season, is expected to remain in that role behind Kirk in 2026, but Valenzuela could maneuver into that role by season's end if he continues to hit well and Heinemann has any set backs. The Blue Jays only used three catchers last season. Kirk played in 118 games, Heinemann saw action in 61 contests and Ali Sanchez got a call up and caught in seven games, accumulating 48 innings behind the plate.

Meantime, fellow catcher Robert Brooks and infielder's Rafael Lantigua, Carlos Mendoza, Josh Rivera and Riley Tirotta were reassigned to minor-league camp the same day that Valenzuela was sent to Buffalo.