Any dreams of Toronto Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman becoming MLB’s next two-way sensation were dashed Friday against the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals manhandled the Blue Jays from the first inning at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The home team put up a seven spot against Max Scherzer to take a 7-1 lead after the opening frame. Two innings later, the Royals extended that lead to 10-1.
With the game all but decided entering the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Jays opted to save their bullpen arms by sending backup catcher Heineman to the mound. To say that his outing did not go smoothly would be the understatement of the season.
Heineman allowed his first run on three singles. The Blue Jays catcher gave up three more after Jac Caglianone obliterated a 54-mph eephus pitch to right field.
54 MPH coming in … 101.1 MPH going out 😳
— MLB (@MLB) September 20, 2025
Jac Caglianone's 7th career home run was a big blast 💥 pic.twitter.com/OOpVKybieH
Things only got worse for Heineman in the eighth inning. After inducing a Carter Jensen flyout to lead off the inning, Heineman allowed six more runs on eight straight hits before he was yanked for another position player. Infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa picked up his catcher by stranding the two runners on base to minimize the damage.
Heineman’s final line was all-time levels of atrocious: 13 hits and 10 earned runs allowed over 1.1 innings pitched. He allowed a run to score nearly every three pitches thrown during his 33-pitch outing.
Tyler Heineman tonight vs. Royals:
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 20, 2025
1.1 IP, 13 H, 10 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 33 P pic.twitter.com/aBrNC3mpNx
Heineman became the first pitcher in MLB history to allow 13 hits and 10 runs in a relief outing with fewer than two innings pitched. Position players have performed badly on the mound in the past. But a team would rarely leave one out there to rack up such a stinker of a stat line. Heineman’s lucky that Kiner-Falefa kept it from being worse.
It’s not the first time Heineman has pitched in relief this season. He pitched one inning during a 15-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in June, then another inning in a 14-2 blowout win over the Texas Rangers last month.
Heineman entered Friday’s game with an ERA of 9.00 across two innings pitched. His ERA soared to 32.40 once Toronto’s 20-1 loss mercifully came to an end.
