White Sox follow worrisome Alejandro Kirk injury with savage test in Blue Jays' walkoff loss

The Toronto Blue Jays may be losing one of their leaders. Alejandro Kirk left Friday’s game in the 10th inning after a foul tip hit his thumb off the bat of the Chicago White Sox's Austin Hays.

You could tell it wasn't good because Kirk immediately held his thumb and looked to the dugout. Kirk is known as a tough player, so when he comes out, we as fans think worst-case scenario. The cold weather didn't help either.

Blue Jays may have been dealt another worrying injury early in the season

As he left, Tyler Heineman entered behind the plate. Hays would strike out on the next pitch. Then the baseball saying is "when you're unprepared, the ball will find you," and this came true with Derek Hill next to bat. He laid a bunt down the third base line, and Heineman fielded it, but threw it away from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base into right field.

Miguel Vargas was the runner in extra innings and scored from third base on the error to tie the game 4-4, with Hill advancing to second base. With two outs, Tristan Peters came up next and singled to right, scoring Hill to secure the White Sox the win.

Kirk has been slow to start the season slashing .125/.222/.313 with a home run and an RBI. However, the Blue Jays lose a leader on the field. Behind the plate, he ranks in the 100th percentile in blocks above average (21) and in the 98th percentile in framing (17).

Kirk will get X-rays on his thumb, and we will all wait in anticipation, hoping one of the Blue Jays’ most important players doesn't miss much time. It's another significant injury for the Blue Jays in the early part of the season that has already been headlined by numerous players heading to the IL.

Before the season even started the team made it publicly known that Shane Bieber would have a slower ramp up to the season as he dealt with forearm fatigue, following the end of the 2025 campaign. That was followed by both José Berrios and Trey Yesavage following a similar slow build up to the season. Berrios was on a regular plan until an MRI revealed he had a stress fracture, while Yesavage was held back out of the gate and then placed on the IL with a shoulder impingement.

And before the Blue Jays could even get through their first week of games, Cody Ponce went down with an injury in his first game in the major leagues since the 2021 season. Ponce sprained his ACL in the third inning of Monday's game (Mar. 30) against the Colorado Rockies and is expected to miss significant time.

The battery of the Blue Jays is being battered in the early part of the season, certainly not the start they wanted in 2026.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow