Alejandro Kirk

Alejandro Kirk

26-Year-Old CatcherC
Toronto Blue Jays
2025 Fantasy Outlook
It would be worrisome if 2022 ends up being Kirk's offensive peak, but it is is certainly looking that way after a second consecutive disappointing season at the plate. He did not hit his second homer of the season until June and his third did not come until August. By season's end, Kirk had managed to score just 23 times despite a .319 OBP and 386 plate appearances. The last player to score such few runs with that playing time was Miguel Cabrera over the last two seasons of his career as he scored a total of 46 times over that two-year span. Kirk continues to have excellent strike zone discpline and puts the ball in play which is why he is in the top 20 for grounding into double plays despite much fewer plate appearances than those in front of him on that list. Kirk remains an excellent defensive presence behind the plate with his framing and blocking abilities even as the league takes liberties running against him with 60 or more steals allowed in each of the last two seasons. The starting catcher job is his to keep as the organization does not have anyone banging down the door, especially with the departure of Danny Jansen. The opportunity is there for Kirk but needs to end this two-year run of disappointing production. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
From Preseason
$Signed a one-year, $2.8 million contract with the Blue Jays in January of 2024.
Out of Sunday's lineup
CToronto Blue Jays
September 22, 2024
Kirk is not in the lineup for Sunday's game in Tampa Bay.
ANALYSIS
Kirk caught the first two games of the series but will get a breather for Sunday's finale. Tyler Heineman is behind the plate as the Blue Jays try to avoid a sweep.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
16
28
13
8
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
13
1
4
4
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
Even Split
2024
 
 
+3%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+9%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+7%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .725 337 31 7 37 0 .257 .335 .390
Since 2022vs Right .725 1012 85 20 123 0 .268 .348 .378
2024vs Left .692 100 6 2 13 0 .228 .290 .402
2024vs Right .671 286 17 3 41 0 .262 .329 .343
2023vs Left .732 128 13 2 15 0 .264 .359 .373
2023vs Right .674 294 21 6 28 0 .244 .323 .351
2022vs Left .747 109 12 3 9 0 .276 .349 .398
2022vs Right .797 432 47 11 54 0 .288 .377 .419
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+17%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+33%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+6%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .762 641 59 19 88 0 .265 .345 .417
Since 2022Away .692 708 57 8 72 0 .265 .345 .347
2024Home .731 191 14 4 33 0 .262 .330 .401
2024Away .623 195 9 1 21 0 .244 .308 .315
2023Home .789 207 19 7 25 0 .285 .348 .441
2023Away .595 215 15 1 18 0 .215 .321 .274
2022Home .763 243 26 8 30 0 .250 .354 .409
2022Away .806 298 33 6 33 0 .313 .386 .420
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Stat Review
How does Alejandro Kirk compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.69
 
BB Rate
9.1%
 
K Rate
13.2%
 
BABIP
.276
 
ISO
.106
 
AVG
.253
 
OBP
.319
 
SLG
.359
 
OPS
.677
 
wOBA
.300
 
Exit Velocity
89.4 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
34.9%
 
Barrels/PA
5.2%
 
Expected BA
.257
 
Expected SLG
.392
 
Sprint Speed
21.3 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
45.3%
 
Line Drive %
21.8%
 
Fly Ball %
32.9%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
Expectations for Kirk were high as he was coming off a season where he improved offensively and defensively. His defense got even better, but Kirk's batting took a couple of steps back. He continued to fan at a low 10.7 percent clip, but Kirk's average exit velocity dropped three mph while his hard-hit rate fell seven points to a career low 38.3 percent, only 33rd percentile. Kirk's power, and especially run production plummeted. His struggles at the plate cost Kirk playing time as he was used as the designated hitter only 17 times, compared to 50 the prior campaign. He hit the ball harder for the final three months of the season, so there is optimism for a rebound, but he's still going to share catching duties with Danny Jansen. Kirk's excellent contact rate yields a solid floor, but the playing time upside anticipated heading into last season is on hold.
Kirk was one of the league's top hitting catchers as his 129 wRC+ was highest among the five backstops with at least 500 plate appearances. His plate skills remained excellent, with a 50% groundball rate supporting an increased BABIP. Kirk's exit velocity on fly balls increased, indicating his patience allowed turning on pitches he can drive, so while his power fell, it wasn't commensurate with the increase in grounders. Lost in Kirk's exploits at the plate were his improvements behind it. Kirk's defense improved significantly, specifically with regards to framing, but he also caught 26% of base stealers as opposed to 19% the prior campaign. Still just 24 years old, Kirk can easily regain some of the loft on batted balls, increasing power. Even with the uptick in defense, Kirk will often serve as designated hitter, so he should again combine quality and quantity into a top-10 fantasy backstop.
Kirk is the type of player that is often overlooked as he is a bowling ball at 5-foot-8, 265 pounds. He's given the fantasy community reason to be excited about his bat, however, posting above-average slash lines in his two MLB seasons so far. His 2021 wasn't nearly as good as his short run in 2020 (165 wRC+), but Kirk still managed eight homers while striking out a mere 22 times in 189 plate appearances (11.6%). He missed multiple months with a left hip flexor strain, spent some time in the minors and didn't end on a particularly strong note, batting .200 over the final month of the season. Meanwhile, Danny Jansen exploded for a .310/.365/.707 line over the final month, creating some questions about Kirk's role behind the dish to begin 2022. Kirk's framing didn't grade out well last year and the Blue Jays have another exciting catcher in the pipeline in Gabriel Moreno, but Kirk already showed at ages 21 and 22 that he can easily clear the low offensive bar at the position.
Whoever is reading this might look more like a pro athlete than Kirk does, but he's the one who jumped over Double-A and Triple-A and hit .375 in his first 25 MLB plate appearances as a 21-year-old. The 5-foot-9, 220-pound backstop's innate bat-to-ball ability is what allowed him to ascend so rapidly through the minors. Toronto might also be viewing this as his athletic prime, as he really can't afford to lose what little agility he still possesses. There are obviously questions about his defense behind the dish, but so far he has proved adequate enough to at least work in a timeshare. Additionally, Kirk has enough power to bang out double-digit home runs in a full season. He will be competing with Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire this spring. Toronto could send him to Triple-A for a bit more seasoning, but he's a solid bet to be a good fantasy catcher if and when he plays.
More Fantasy News
Getting Thursday off
CToronto Blue Jays
September 19, 2024
Kirk is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rangers.
ANALYSIS
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Day off Wednesday
CToronto Blue Jays
September 11, 2024
Kirk is not in the lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Mets.
ANALYSIS
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Receiving breather Sunday
CToronto Blue Jays
September 1, 2024
Kirk is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Getting day off
CToronto Blue Jays
August 29, 2024
Kirk is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest in Boston.
ANALYSIS
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Swats homer Sunday
CToronto Blue Jays
August 25, 2024
Kirk went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a bases-loaded walk in Sunday's 8-2 win over the Angels.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Possibility for more playing time?
CToronto Blue Jays
May 25, 2023
Kirk could operate as Toronto's primary catcher for the near future since Danny Jansen is undergoing an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of his groin injury, reports Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.
ANALYSIS
Kirk has seen his playing time take a dip of late with just two starts in Toronto's past six games, but there's a chance at an extended run behind the plate with Jansen now banged up. Kirk has a strong 14.4 percent walk rate but has otherwise struggled this season with a .230/.348/.319 slash line in 135 plate appearances. Tyler Heineman would be called up to fill the backup job should Jansen end up on the injured list.
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