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Blue Jays 2024 Season Preview: Catchers
With pitchers and catchers set to report on Feb. 15, we take a look at the Toronto Blue Jays catchers, including Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen.
Regardless of how you summarise the offseason for the Blue Jays, spring training is nearly here. In fact, we're just two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Dunedin.
As part of Jays Journal's preparations for the 2024 campaign we're taking a look at the various players on the Blue Jays roster. With this in mind, here is our preview of the catcher position:
Alejandro Kirk
The 2023 campaign was one of both disappointment and encouragement for Alejandro Kirk. More specifically, his offensive production took a step back, while his defence behind the plate improved.
Starting with Kirk's offence, his previous season had represented a breakout year, as he produced 14 home runs, 63 RBI and 63 walks. This contributed towards an excellent .285/.372/.415 slash line and .786 OPS in a career-high 139 games.
With optimism and expectations high entering last year, the 25-year-old was unable to reproduce to a similar level with his bat. He essentially dipped across the board, finishing with eight homers, 43 RBI, 42 walks, a .250/.334/.358 slash line and .692 OPS in 123 appearances.
It isn't entirely clear why Kirk's offensive form took a step back, although Jays Journal's Eric Treuden offers a feasible explanation. Due to his baby girl being born in February and him subsequently reporting late for spring training, it's entirely possible the understandable distraction and delay contributed towards his never quite being able to get on track.
In any event, the Tijuana, Mexico native is predicted by FanGraphs to rebound and have a better year at the plate this coming season, albeit not quite back up to his level of 2022. ZiPS projections have him producing 12 home runs, 50 RBI and 46 walks, on the way to a .263/.345/.403 slash line and .748 OPS.
Turning to Kirk's defence, the Blue Jays will be hoping it's a case of more of the same in 2024. His play behind the plate at least helped balance out his overall importance to and impact on the team last year.
Of particular note, the 2022 All-Star finished third among all Major League catchers with a 1.7 dWAR and, as per The Fielding Bible, second with 17 Defensive Runs Saved. In addition, when you look at The Catcher Framing Leaderboard, he was tied-seventh with six Catcher Framing Runs and eighth in Strike Rate.
Overall, as long as Kirk maintains a similar level of consistently behind the plate, while also hitting closer to what he's achieved previously, the Blue Jays will be over the moon. With his combination of age, upside and durability, consider him favourite to be the main catcher this coming season.
Danny Jansen
As Kirk took a step back with his bat in 2023, Danny Jansen made up for the dip in form of his teammate. In fact, to the point he had one of his best offensive seasons to date in the Majors.
When it was all said and done, Jansen had set single-season personal bests of 17 home runs, 53 RBI and 15 doubles. In addition, his .474 slugging percentage, .786 OPS and 115 OPS+ were all the second-best of his six years in the Majors.
However, this all comes with a couple of caveats, the first being that even the 28-year-old's offensive production arguably also represented a step back from what he achieved a year earlier. In particular, setting single-season highs with a .260 batting average, .516 slugging percentage, .855 OPS and 142 OPS+.
Regardless of how you summarise Jansen's respective offensive impact during the past two seasons, this takes us to the second caveat, or more to the point issue. The guy just continues to be unable to remain healthy.
Last season saw the 2013 16th-round draft pick play the second-most games of his Major League career, but with just 86 appearances. He dealt with various injuries, including missing the final month of the season with a fractured finger.
Jansen has at times been labelled a streaky hitter, but this isn't exactly surprising when you're constantly dealing with various ailments. Along these lines ZiPS have him projected to play 88 games in 2024, albeit still with decent production including 15 homers, 47 RBI, a .244/.327/.473 slash line and .800 OPS.
The Elmhurst, Illinois native is renowned for having a high baseball IQ, which can be extremely helpful behind the plate. While his upside is not as high as Kirk, his two Catcher Framing Runs and 47.5 percent Strike Rate were ranked tied 24th and tied 25th respectively among 63 qualifying catchers.
Ultimately, Jansen's ongoing durability issues will likely stop him from ever being able to become the full-time starting catcher. At the same time though, he helps give the Blue Jays one of the better one-two combos behind the plate in the Majors.
Next. Blue Jays prospect earns praise in MLB Pipeline's 1B rankings. Blue Jays prospect earns praise in MLB Pipeline's 1B rankings. dark