Go call his name, go call his name, Alejandro. The All-Star game, the All-Star game, the catcher. Just gonna hit, just gonna walk. He is not striking out a lot. Go call his name, go call his name. Ale-ale-jandro, Ale-ale-jandro.
After starting the season very slowly, Alejandro Kirk has turned into a hitting machine. In June, he is hitting over .300 and has an OPS over .900. He has been the Jays’ best hitter over the last few weeks and has hit his way into the All-Star game conversation. At first it was thought that he might be named an All-Star, but now it is becoming extremely likely that he will be the starting catcher for the midsummer classic.
The starting position players for the All-Star game get voted in by fans, so there are times when the most deserving players may not make the starting lineup, because the voting can devolve into a popularity contest. However, with the catching position not being very deep, in terms of high-profile players, Kirk looked to have a strong chance to get voted in by the fans.
The first update was just released by MLB and Kirk is not just leading AL catchers in votes, he is up by over 670,000. He has over 1 million votes, which is the third highest in the AL, only behind Mike Trout and Aaron Judge. He is quickly becoming a fan favourite and is proving to be one of the best offensive catchers in the league. He’s only 5’7” but looks like a linebacker and has excellent bat-to-ball skills. He can spray the ball all over the diamond and is able to battle with two strikes. Below is his spray chart, which demonstrates how he is able to drive the ball to all parts of the field.
Among qualified catchers, Kirk leads the majors in batting average and on-base percentage, and is second in slugging. He has been hitting extremely well as of late, but that may not even be the most impressive part of his game. He has a great eye at the plate and is difficult to strike out. He has more walks than strikeouts this season and has a 10.0% strikeout rate which is among the top 2% of the league. In today’s game of baseball where strikeouts are high, being a player that doesn’t strike out a lot is very impressive. It’s even more impressive given how young Kirk is; he’s only 23 years old.
He debuted in the big leagues in September 2020 despite not playing any games above single-A. He only played in 9 games down the stretch that season as the Jays pushed towards the playoffs, but he hit .375/.400/.583 in that short period. Yes, it was a very small sample size, but he showed that he could hit major league pitching and quickly became a fan-favourite. In 2021, he only played in 60 games due to missing almost three months because of a left hip flexor strain. In those 60 games he hit .242/.328/.436, which is respectable for a 22-year-old backup catcher with next to no minor league experience. Now healthy and getting a lot more playing time with Danny Jansen having two stints on the IL so far this season, he is showing why he was a highly rated prospect.
Kirk is finding his stroke again and has made a strong case to be the starting catcher in the All-Star game. As word gets around on how good he his, and the league starts to adjust, it will be interesting to see how he is able to adjust as well. While he may not be a household name, if he is able to keep this up, fans all across baseball will call his name, Alejandro.