Blue Jays Bring Back Catcher For 3rd Tour Of Duty in Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays just keep coming back for more when it comes to veteran catcher Tyler Heineman. Today they claimed the catcher off waivers from the Boston Red Sox, marking his third stint, and third straight year of being brought into the Jays clubhouse.

#BlueJays can’t quit Tyler Heineman. They just claimed the catcher off waivers from the Red Sox. This is either his third or fourth stint with the Jays. Brian Serven was DFA’d which is a bit of a bummer because he had a nice thing going with Bowden Francis
— Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) September 16, 2024

This will be, in fact, the 33-year-old's third tour of duty with the team, after spending 10 games in the 2022 season before being jettisoned to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2023, the Buccos returned the favor, and after only three appearances with them, he returned to the Blue Jays, where he spent 19 games last year.

Now, in 2024, the backstop has spent most of his time in the minors in the Red Sox organization, and after only three plate appearances all season, he was DFA'd by the team, and here come the Blue Jays once again.

In a bizarre move, however, to make room for Heineman, the Jays DFA'd catcher Brian Serven, who had been serving as Bowden Francis's batterymate. Francis, as we all know, has had one of the great pitching runs in recent memory, with a 1.25 ERA and a 0.39 WHIP along with three near-no-hittters in his last six starts. Serven caught the last five of those six games.

His .159 batting average and 34 OPS+ were nothing to write home about, for certain, but it remains to be seen how Francis adjusts.