DUNEDIN, Fla. – Alejandro Kirk, if the 21-year-old kid who unexpectedly emerged from the alternate training site to debut late in the 2020 pandemic season could see the catcher he’s become now, what would he see?
“Someone feeling better. Mature. A lot of experience,” the Toronto Blue Jays catcher said through interpreter Hector Lebron following Saturday’s workouts. “To be honest with you, I probably would have thought that I was going to be in this position right now.”
That position – even as he says, “I’m not going to take it for granted, I’m not going to think that the job is mine” – is as the clear and definitive starting catcher for the Blue Jays, a Gold Glove finalist positioned to carry the heaviest single-season workload of his career.
A trial run with Kirk in the captain’s seat came after Danny Jansen, his backstop partner in his first four full years in the majors, was traded to Boston last July 27. The now 26-year-old responded with his best stretch of the season while appearing in 47 of his club’s 56 games.
The Blue Jays now need that and more, as beyond the loss of Jansen’s production, also gone is his impactful presence and the safety net he provided. Catchers, after all, are like the central node of a team’s nervous system because of their reach across the entire roster and, along with covering some of the innings and at-bats, filling that void is now on Kirk now, too.
“That’s a big part for him, for sure,” manager John Schneider acknowledged. “While Jano was here, you’re kind of learning from him and his leadership qualities and how you talk in meetings and how you approach pitchers. That’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing in camp. Not very loud, but when he does talk, it holds weight. When you’re going to be an everyday catcher, you’ve got to have all things buttoned up. He’s done a good job so far.”
His ongoing progress is essential for the Blue Jays, who three years ago were blessed with an enviable surplus behind the plate but have now essentially placed all their catching eggs in the Kirk basket.
The trade of Gabriel Moreno to Arizona after the 2022 season for Daulton Varsho began eating into that depth, but a big-league tandem of Jansen and Kirk still remained in place with at least three years of contractual horizon. Time moves fast though, and extension talks with Jansen last year went nowhere. He was traded before hitting the open market and Kirk is now a mere two years away from free agency, with no obvious catcher-of-the-future in the system.
As a result, for the first time in four years, there’s an actual opening for the backup spot, although the defensively stellar Tyler Heineman, acquired by the Blue Jays for the third time last year in an unusual late-September waiver claim, appears to have the inside track. Minor-league free agents Christian Bethancourt and Ali Sanchez are also in the mix, while Phil Clarke, who finished last year at triple-A Buffalo, and Jacob Sharp, picked up from Seattle along with Jonatan Clase for Yimi Garcia last summer, are among the other non-roster invitees.
While who’s behind the plate in 2027 is clearly a worry for another day, that’s also a problem that will be here sooner than the Blue Jays would like to think. As Schneider noted, “in terms of development, it takes time.”
“It was a really unique situation where we had Gabby and Kirky, who were both very young and thrust into the big-leagues,” said Schneider. “They had to figure some things out up there. We’ll see who the next wave is and hopefully get a pretty good look at them in camp.”
All of which underlines Kirk’s importance.
He spent two months of the off-season at the complex preparing himself for the upcoming grind, after putting together seasons of 775 and 766 innings behind the plate the past two years.
For someone who reached the majors with the reputation as “more of a hitter,” as Alek Manoah remembers him at the 2020 alternate training site, he’s steadily evolved into someone Heineman now calls “a Gold Glover” who is “phenomenal behind the plate.”
“He blocks the ball incredibly. Has amazing hands. His throwing has gotten significantly better, quick, on the bag,” Heineman continued. “I appreciate how good he is at being on time receiving pitches and being able to present them correctly.”
The numbers speak to that, as among qualified catchers last year, Kirk was fourth in the majors in catcher framing runs at plus-10 and was 10th in converting borderline pitches to strikes at 49.8 per cent. It’s behind his work that the Blue Jays ranked sixth and seventh in those categories and if Heineman ends up in the backup role, they’d have one of the best defensive pairings in the game.
“My job is to be an extension of (Kirk) so if I’m playing, there’s no disconnect, that it’s a seamless transition,” said Heineman. “You don’t want the pitcher to have to worry about who’s behind the plate. You don’t want the manager to worry about who’s behind the plate. It’s like this guy gives the starter a day off but doesn’t cost us anything and might add some value in other aspects, too.”
Manoah, who’s made 54 of his 75 big-league with Kirk catching, believes adding value in other aspects is where his batterymate has grown most over the past five years. Better game-planning. A louder voice in pre-game meetings. More openness in dugout chats.
“Pitchers love throwing to him because he has such soft hands and he can rake but him adding in the dialogue of like, when you throw that curveball, we can come back with this slider or we can come back with this fastball up, or, we can work our changeup off of that, being able to bring up those points, different perspectives, he did not do that before,” said Manoah. “That’s making him be more open, speaking about the knowledge that he’s learned. It also lets you know that he’s on the same page as you.”
Jose Berrios sees more confidence from the backstop – “I like confidence” behind the plate, he said – and beyond the framing and blocking, both elements crucial to the right-hander’s success, he also appreciates little nuances such as the way Kirk sets up.
“I like when he moves away or in, not just staying on one part of the plate,” said Berrios, who picks up the catcher’s body, rather than the glove, during his delivery. “I need to see that to know where I’m throwing the ball.”
Knowing the minutiae of what helps each pitcher be at his best is what helps separate the good and great catchers. Providing offence helps, too, and if Kirk can add the type of offence he provided during his All-Star campaign of 2022, the Blue Jays lineup, already boosted by Anthony Santander and the return of Bo Bichette, will be in much better shape.
“I’ve got to show the organization that I can go out there and play every day,” said Kirk. “I want to be out there trying to catch every game, stay healthy and then keep working on my offence. The way I finished last year and through this year, it’s a game, you’ve got to keep making adjustments.”
