TORONTO — John Schneider was asked prior to Friday's game about the decision to start rookie catcher Brandon Valenzuela instead of Tyler Heineman and the manager’s answer was simple.
He felt Valenzuela offered a better chance at generating some power against Minnesota Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson.
“Just get an extra threat to hit one out,” Schneider said.
Sure enough, Valenzuela made good on that estimation, launching the first homer of his major-league career in a pivotal moment of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 10-4 win in front of 40,721at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays entered the fourth inning trailing, 4-0, but rallied with RBI doubles from Jesus Sanchez and Davis Schneider and an RBI single from Andres Gimenez. That set the stage for the switch-hitter Valenzuela, who belted a two-out, two-run shot over the right-field fence that completed the comeback and put the Blue Jays ahead 5-4.
The drive, off a 1-0 splitter from right-hander Woods Richardson, left Valenzuela’s bat at 111.4 m.p.h.
“It's hard to describe it,” said Valenzuela, who was playing in just his fifth game. “I knew I got it well, but I didn't know if I got it high enough. It was an amazing feeling when I realized it was getting over the wall.”
As far as first homers go, it doesn’t get much bigger than a go-ahead shot that electrifies a near-sellout crowd and earns a standing ovation.
“That was cool, man,” said Schneider. “Awesome for him. We needed that.”
The Blue Jays continued to pour on the runs in what was their largest offensive output of the campaign. Daulton Varsho clubbed the 100th homer of his career, Schneider collected two hits, two RBIs, two runs and a walk, while the bottom four in the order went a combined 7-for-14 with six RBIs.
As well, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. notched two doubles clocked at 115.7 and 112.6 m.p.h., clear signs his swing has turned a corner.
“It just means he's on time,” said Schneider. “He's synced up. And the home runs come just because of how hard he hits the ball.”
That barrage helped mitigate a rough outing from Patrick Corbin, who was making his first start for the club. The left-hander, who’s entering his 14th big-league season, inked a one-year, $1-million deal with the Blue Jays last week and pitched in a game with class-A Dunedin before being called up to Toronto.
The soft-tossing Corbin struggled out the gate, surrendering a three-run homer to Ryan Jeffers in the opening frame and a solo shot to Brooks Lee in the fourth. He allowed four runs on six hits over four innings, walking one and striking out three.
Corbin met most of his new teammates for the first time on Friday and said while he wished he could’ve pitched deeper into the game, he’s excited to be back on a major-league mound.
“I think just throwing on back fields sometimes, the adrenaline's not there,” Corbin said. “Coming out here, you get that a little bit. But not having those games, those reps, maybe the stuff's not as sharp or as fine. That will continue to get better just being in situations like this.”
Corbin, a two-time all-star and 2019 World Series champion, lives next to Max Scherzer in Florida and works out in the same gym as the Blue Jays’ right-hander. The two were teammates with the Washington Nationals and Corbin said he heard only positives from Scherzer about the Blue Jays.
The 36-year-old has built a career out of simply posting. He’s the only MLB pitcher to make 30-plus starts in every season since 2017, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Corbin’s positioned to get some run in the rotation with several Blue Jays starters on the mend.
Trey Yesavage, working his way back from a right shoulder impingement, has made two rehab starts with Dunedin, most recently throwing 2.2 innings and 52 pitches on Thursday. The Blue Jays were pleased with his stuff and velocity in that outing and his next time on the mound will likely come in the middle of next week, either in Dunedin or triple-A Buffalo, depending on weather. After that, it's possible the right-hander could rejoin the major-league club.
Yesavage is ahead of fellow injured starters Jose Berrios, who threw a two-up live batting practice at the team’s player development complex in Florida on Friday and could see minor-league game action next week, and Shane Bieber, who’ll throw off a mound on Saturday.
"We're trending in the right direction,” said Schneider. “Those guys are getting better."
Meanwhile, catcher Alejandro Kirk’s timeline is unclear as he recovers from surgery on his left thumb. He’s expected to be out for at least the next month and that makes contributions like Valenzuela’s on Friday even more valuable.
Heineman isn’t locked in as the de facto starter and if Valenzuela can provide meaningful offensive contributions while managing the pitching staff, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t receive more starts.
The club has asked the 25-year-old to use his athleticism in the batter’s box and not be afraid to “take some shots.” His homer was instructive of that. Schneider said he’s been impressed with how Valenzuela has handled responsibilities such as interacting with pitchers and holding his own in meetings with the coaching staff.
“Things that I look for is how he handles himself in between innings, how he handles himself pre-game and things like that and then not being afraid to go out and do it,” said the manager.
Valenzuela, who was acquired last summer from the San Diego Padres for infielder Will Wagner, credited his veteran Blue Jays teammates for welcoming him in spring training.
“They gave me the confidence that I needed for this moment,” said Valenzuela.
He added that Kirk, who also hails from Mexico, has been particularly supportive.
“He's never gonna leave me alone,” said Valenzuela with a grin. “Been talking to him every opportunity I can. Every question that I got, I'll go to him.”
Valenzuela was asked if there was any standout advice the catcher bestowed upon him.
“I'll go back to the one that he gave me when I first got over here,” responded Valenzuela. “It was just, ‘Keep being yourself and keep doing what you're doing. That's what the org likes.’”
By the looks of it, if Valenzuela continues to do that, he’ll be just fine.
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