Alejandro Kirk's power on display as rehabbing Blue Jays catcher nears a return

Alejandro Kirk was a revelation for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, rediscovering his power stroke en route to a .769 OPS and second career All-Star Game nod. He then got even better in the postseason, hitting .254/.359/.493 while playing in all 18 games during the team's run to Game 7 of the World Series.

Unfortunately, he made it all of five games into his encore performance before joining the Blue Jays' laundry list of injured stars, requiring surgery on a fractured thumb that has held him out since early April.

In a very pleasing sight, Kirk returned to game action this week, making his first rehab appearance in Single-A Dunedin as he works back towards Toronto. Suffice it to say, he doesn't look like he's missed a beat.

He ultimately went 1-for-2 with a walk to pair with that opposite-field home run, looking exactly like the slugger who helped carry the lineup a year ago. He's still a little ways off from rejoining his major-league teammates, but more performances like this will only accelerate his rehab timeline.

Blue Jays need the best version of Alejandro Kirk in order to unleash catching prowess

Kirk struggled prior to his injury, slashing .150/.227/.350 (60 wRC+). That was mostly par for the course on a team with a terrible World Series hangover, but the sample was so small that it's best not to draw any conclusions from his performance.

A repeat of his 4.7-fWAR effort from 2025 is almost certainly off the table now that he's two months behind, but he doesn't need to make up for lost time. Thanks to the surprising emergence of Brandon Valenzuela behind the dish, Kirk can be eased back into action while joining forces with the rookie to form a potent backstop duo.

Valenzuela, for reference, is hitting .231/.325/.398 through his first 40 MLB games. He obviously isn't quite as potent as Kirk at avoiding strikeouts or hitting for power, but he does draw a ton of walks and produces plenty of hard contact. More importantly, he's been a tremendous defensive asset, with elite figures in pop time, framing, and stealers caught.

Pairing him with Kirk is a match made in heaven. Both are excellent framers, but where Valenzuela excels (throwing out runners) Kirk is mediocre. Likewise, the veteran backstop is the league's best blocker, whereas the rookie isn't quite so good on that front yet.

It's rare to have one catcher who is above-average on offence and defence; two is nearly unheard of. If Kirk can return to his 2025 form once he's fully recovered from injury, we'll be talking about the Blue Jays' catcher tandem as one of the best in the league.

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