Predicting the Blue Jays' 26-man Wild Card Series roster

Catchers (2)

In a perfect world, Danny Jansen would be a part of this list, but he is currently on the injured list nursing a finger injury that required surgery. He missed out on the final month of the regular season and is a firm "maybe" for some playoff appearances down the line, just not in the WC Series.

Tyler Heineman

Sure, he's not exactly going to blow anyone away with his bat, but Tyler Heineman did one hell of a job whenever he was called upon by the Blue Jays this season. The four-year veteran has bounced around all over the league but did a fantastic job in 19 games for the Jays this season.

Filling in whenever Kirk or Jansen needed a trip to the injured list, Heineman posted a .276 batting average and 129 OPS+, hitting a triple and driving in three runs while walking and striking out seven times each. Pitchers on the staff love working with him, and he is really the only other catcher that could fill out this roster. Don't look for him to get a ton of playing time (if any at all) in the WC Series, but you could do worse when trying to find a backup catcher in the postseason.

Alejandro Kirk

While Alejandro Kirk did not quite do enough to successfully follow up his breakout campaign from 2022, he was still a serviceable catcher who the Blue Jays got a ton of mileage out of. There's no doubt that he's going to be the club's No. 1 option behind the plate in the WC Series.

If all goes well, the Jays will be in and out of Minnesota in just two games, as this series is a best-of-three. Kirk should be behind the plate for both of them, as he is a well-liked backstop by the pitching staff and made significant strides defensively this year.

While the 25-year-old is not at the same level as Patrick Bailey or Austin Hedges, two of the game's best defensive catchers, he posted 5 Catcher Framing Runs this year, which ties him for eighth best in the league.