Alejandro Kirk Has Turned His Season Around

[Cory Sparks]

While the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t had the season they’d imagined after being a game away from a World Series title last year, Jays fans can take solace in knowing that one of their cornerstone players is catching fire down the home stretch. Toronto is still very much in the American League Wild Card race, and Alejandro Kirk is figuring it out as we hit the middle phase of August. 

Stats prior to games on August 16.

Alejandro Kirk’s Background

Kirk is one of the pillars of this Jays offense. The 27-year-old backstop is a career .269 hitter, drawing plenty of walks to earn an on-base percentage in the mid-.300s as well. The 5-foot-8, 245-pound catcher is in his seventh season in the major leagues, and he’s already stacked up a pair of All-Star selections and a Silver Slugger Award.

In the past, he has shown an ability to hit for a respectable average and has proven to be extremely difficult to strike out. Toronto’s pitch-caller has 262 punchouts in over 2,200 plate appearances while earning 229 free passes. 

A Start To Forget

Kirk played just a handful of games this season before taking a foul tip off his glove in a game against the Chicago White Sox. The deflection fractured Kirk’s thumb, sidelining him until his return on June 12. The veteran catcher struggled mightily in June as he worked his way back into the everyday starting spot, slashing just .205/.234/.295 and striking out nine times in 47 plate appearances for an uncharacteristic strikeout rate straddling the 20 percent mark. 

The Tijuana, Mexico native isn’t fleet of foot, falling in the first percentile for sprint speed (per Baseball Savant), so his high-average profile relies strictly on quality contact. For someone coming back from a thumb injury, that put a lot of pressure on Kirk to rifle his hands through the baseball. It’s possible that he just needed some time to settle in and regain confidence. 

Turning the Corner

Time may be just what the doctor ordered, as Kirk had a much better run in July. The Blue Jays’ catcher slashed .281/.388/.368 (.756 OPS) with a home run, five RBI and three extra-base hits, this time earning 10 walks to seven strikeouts in 67 plate appearances. August has been the contact-hitter’s best month yet, slashing .381/.451/.548 so far. 

His elite plate discipline has been on display, showing that the catcher, like many backstops, has a great eye for discerning a ball from a strike. Kirk is also showcasing his elite bat-to-ball skills as we hit the home stretch of the season; his 32.5 percent squared-up percentage on the season is well above the league average. His 2026 strikeout rate (12.2%%), walk rate (11.2%) and whiff rate (17.8%) are all far superior to the league average as well. 

On the defensive side, Kirk is making a world of difference for the Jays’ rotation. For someone like Dylan Cease, who throws offspeed pitches over half of the time (some of which are buried in the dirt), Kirk’s 13 blocks above average (100th percentile) come in handy. He’s also one of the best framers in baseball, nestled in the 86th percentile among big league catchers by Statcast's metric.

Leading a Late Surge

It’ll take a group effort for Toronto to get back into the postseason, but the AL still looks wide open. Kirk has the ability to impact nearly every pitch from behind the plate, and his elite approach at the plate can have ripple effects on the rest of an offense still in search of its power stroke. If Kirk continues to progress, drawing out counts and ramping up opposing pitch counts, it can only spell positive change for the rest of the roster.

View full article

[Owen Hill]

Just talked about this on the podcast- Kirky's got a 155 wRC+ since July 8th, but only has six extra base hits. He's just simply hitting a single or walking *every time*

A homer and a double in game one against the Yanks was a good start, but I don't remember anyone else being this productive and refusing to hit for any slug.

[Leo Morgenstern]

1 hour ago, Owen Hill said:

Just talked about this on the podcast- Kirky's got a 155 wRC+ since July 8th, but only has six extra base hits. He's just simply hitting a single or walking *every time*

A homer and a double in game one against the Yanks was a good start, but I don't remember anyone else being this productive and refusing to hit for any slug.

Kirk has a .135 ISO since July 8. Just for fun, I wanted to see how many players ever had a 155 wRC+ or better with an ISO no higher than .135 over a full season. Turns out only one player has done it in the last 100 years... but he did it three times. Wade Boggs in '83, '85, and '88. So yeah, probably unsustainable for Kirk to be this productive without any slug haha