While the Blue Jays were able to bring in one impact bat over the winter <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-sign-anthony-santander-to-five-year-deal">with Anthony Santander joining the team</a>, most of us would agree that they could really use at least one more offensive upgrade. If the offseason rumour mill was any indication then the Blue Jays certainly tried to bring in some further reinforcements, but as of now they&#8217;ll be counting on some internal improvements to help pull their lineup out of the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/ops">bottom half of MLB offences</a>.
It&#8217;s rarely wise to hope a problem will just fix itself, but in the case of this year&#8217;s projected lineup for the Blue Jays, there are a few players that are capable of far more than we saw in 2024. A few days ago I wrote about how the Jays <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-best-case-scenarios-daulton-varsho">could hope for more from Daulton Varsho</a> once he&#8217;s healthy and ready to rejoin the team shortly into the 2025 campaign, and he&#8217;s not the only one that can offer more.
Today I&#8217;d like to take a closer look at the projected starting catcher, Alejandro Kirk.
The 26-year-old has had an up-and-down first five seasons in the big leagues, as he debuted back in September 2020 when he was just 21 years old. Since then Kirk has mostly split time with Danny Jansen as at least a half-time starter in Toronto, getting more extended opportunities when his catching partner was on the injured list, which happened frequently enough.
The best season of the Mexican-born receiver&#8217;s career was in 2022 when he was the starting catcher for the AL squad in the All-Star game, and he also won a Silver Slugger award during his 4.0 bWAR campaign. That year he slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI, also adding 19 doubles in 470 at-bats. Couple that kind of offensive production with the plus defence Kirk was contributing and you&#8217;re looking at one of the best catchers in the game. With that in mind, trading Gabriel Moreno at the time in late 2022 made more sense than it does with the benefit of hindsight.
All that said, Kirk hasn&#8217;t been the same player since that breakout 2022 campaign, even if he&#8217;s still managed to improve some facets of his skillset. He continues to thrive on the defensive side of the ball, and rates as one of the best in baseball across several categories. Where he&#8217;s taken a step back has been at the plate rather than behind it, and there&#8217;s reason to believe he can be closer to the 2022 version of himself than the .255/.319/.359 hitter we saw last year.
Kirk actually showed some pretty encouraging signs of improvement in the second half of last season, as he slashed .269/.328/.390 after the All-Star break compared to a .234/.308/.323 showing before it. However, if we look at the month-to-month stats Kirk went from a 57 OPS+ in June, to a steady climb after Jansen was dealt to the Red Sox and the starting role became his regular responsibility. Kirk posted a 99 OPS+ in July, a 102 in August, and finally a 116 in September to close the season. During the final 20 games he finished with a .297/.342/405 slash line across 74 at-bats, looking more like the former All-Star starter of the past.
Looking to the season ahead, the Blue Jays are obviously going to be counting on Kirk to be the best version of himself, and thankfully he seems to be taking that responsibility seriously. His conditioning has been an oft-discussed topic throughout his 5-year career, and the other day he appeared on camera talking about training in Florida throughout the winter and <a href="https://x.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1890798358899442061">looking as fit as we&#8217;ve seen in quite a while</a>. That commitment will be important in 2025, as Kirk&#8217;s workload is bound to see a significant increase now that Jansen is gone, leaving a battle between Christian Bethancourt and Tyler Heineman for the backup job.
The good news is that even as Kirk has struggled at times over the past couple of seasons, he&#8217;s found ways to contribute enough to bring value to the team. However, if he can put together the best-case scenario of impact on both sides of the ball, that kind of production would go a long way to helping the Blue Jays get back in the playoff picture in the American League.
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While the Blue Jays were able to bring in one impact bat over the winter <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-sign-anthony-santander-to-five-year-deal">with Anthony Santander joining the team</a>, most of us would agree that they could really use at least one more offensive upgrade. If the offseason rumour mill was any indication then the Blue Jays certainly tried to bring in some further reinforcements, but as of now they'll be counting on some internal improvements to help pull their lineup out of the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/ops">bottom half of MLB offences</a>.

It's rarely wise to hope a problem will just fix itself, but in the case of this year's projected lineup for the Blue Jays, there are a few players that are capable of far more than we saw in 2024. A few days ago I wrote about how the Jays <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-best-case-scenarios-daulton-varsho">could hope for more from Daulton Varsho</a> once he's healthy and ready to rejoin the team shortly into the 2025 campaign, and he's not the only one that can offer more.

Today I'd like to take a closer look at the projected starting catcher, Alejandro Kirk.

The 26-year-old has had an up-and-down first five seasons in the big leagues, as he debuted back in September 2020 when he was just 21 years old. Since then Kirk has mostly split time with Danny Jansen as at least a half-time starter in Toronto, getting more extended opportunities when his catching partner was on the injured list, which happened frequently enough.

The best season of the Mexican-born receiver's career was in 2022 when he was the starting catcher for the AL squad in the All-Star game, and he also won a Silver Slugger award during his 4.0 bWAR campaign. That year he slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI, also adding 19 doubles in 470 at-bats. Couple that kind of offensive production with the plus defence Kirk was contributing and you're looking at one of the best catchers in the game. With that in mind, trading Gabriel Moreno at the time in late 2022 made more sense than it does with the benefit of hindsight.

All that said, Kirk hasn't been the same player since that breakout 2022 campaign, even if he's still managed to improve some facets of his skillset. He continues to thrive on the defensive side of the ball, and rates as one of the best in baseball across several categories. Where he's taken a step back has been at the plate rather than behind it, and there's reason to believe he can be closer to the 2022 version of himself than the .255/.319/.359 hitter we saw last year.

Kirk actually showed some pretty encouraging signs of improvement in the second half of last season, as he slashed .269/.328/.390 after the All-Star break compared to a .234/.308/.323 showing before it. However, if we look at the month-to-month stats Kirk went from a 57 OPS+ in June, to a steady climb after Jansen was dealt to the Red Sox and the starting role became his regular responsibility. Kirk posted a 99 OPS+ in July, a 102 in August, and finally a 116 in September to close the season. During the final 20 games he finished with a .297/.342/405 slash line across 74 at-bats, looking more like the former All-Star starter of the past.

Looking to the season ahead, the Blue Jays are obviously going to be counting on Kirk to be the best version of himself, and thankfully he seems to be taking that responsibility seriously. His conditioning has been an oft-discussed topic throughout his 5-year career, and the other day he appeared on camera talking about training in Florida throughout the winter and <a href="https://x.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1890798358899442061">looking as fit as we've seen in quite a while</a>. That commitment will be important in 2025, as Kirk's workload is bound to see a significant increase now that Jansen is gone, leaving a battle between Christian Bethancourt and Tyler Heineman for the backup job.

The good news is that even as Kirk has struggled at times over the past couple of seasons, he's found ways to contribute enough to bring value to the team. However, if he can put together the best-case scenario of impact on both sides of the ball, that kind of production would go a long way to helping the Blue Jays get back in the playoff picture in the American League.

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