Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk placed on seven-day concussion IL

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The Blue Jays are expected to add to their roster as Thursday’s 6 p.m., MLB trade deadline approaches.

On Sunday, the club was forced to subtract a key piece to its league-leading lineup when all-star catcher Alejandro Kirk was placed on the seven-day concussion injury list.

Kirk is in the midst of a breakout season — both at the plate and behind it — but he took a foul tip from Tigers’ Wenceel Perez flush off his mask with two out in the second inning of Saturday’s 6-1 win at Comerica Park. He finished the inning, but was replaced by Tyler Heineman to start the third.

Kirk’s bat in the middle of the lineup will be missed, but this Jays team, if anything, has shown to be quite resilient in times of duress.

For now, Heineman — who himself was placed on the concussion IL earlier this season — is expected to fill the void for at least the next week as Kirk won’t be able to return until Sunday.

Heineman has pieced together a solid year for the Blue Jays, batting .326 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 91 at-bats. He went 1-for-4 with a seventh-inning double in Sunday’s 10-4 loss in the series finale.

Ali Sanchez was called up to replace Kirk. With all due respect to the career minor-leaguer, he looked out of his element when he was first called up by the big-league club. At this stage, barring some move out of the blue, the Jays were left with no other choice.

Kirk has been one of the primary catalysts to the Jays’ surprising season. While he lacks foot speed, not many make solid contact at the plate quite like Kirk, who is batting .304 with seven homers and 47 RBIs in 88 games this season.

Certainly, no one frames pitches like Kirk, while his arm strength has made him one of the league’s most proficient at gunning down would-be base-stealers.