The key player the Blue Jays can’t afford to lose in the postseason

It is always tough to lose a key player at any time to injury over the course of the MLB season. The Toronto Blue Jays have been faced with that adversity throughout their 2025 campaign, as Anthony Santander, George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and of course Bo Bichette have all missed time due to various ailments.

However, during the MLB Playoffs, not having the services of a key player could be the difference in advancing in a series versus going home to prepare for the next season. The Blue Jays have various players that would come to mind that could have that kind of impact.

No doubt they need the likes of Springer and his suddenly rejuvenated offense, as well as Daulton Varsho and his Gold Glove calibre defense in the outfield, along with Kevin Gausman to dominate opposing hitters into submission. But if there was one player that the Jays can’t afford to lose this postseason, that player is none other than Alejandro Kirk.

The key player the Blue Jays can’t afford to lose in the postseason

That’s right, “Captain Kirk” could make or break the Jays and their upcoming postseason success. To some, this may come as quite the surprise, but when you take a look at how he can impact all aspects of the game, you will understand why he is the most important player to keep healthy throughout the playoffs for Toronto.

After his huge performance in Game 1 where he hit two home runs, Kirk showed how much he can be a pivotal part of the offense when he's on his game. But going into the series, Kirk had been a revelation on offense once again this season. After enduring a couple of down seasons since his breakout 2022 campaign, the 26-year-old has recaptured his All-Star form this year by compiling a stellar .282 average, .769 OPS, along with 45 runs scored, 18 doubles, 15 home runs, 76 RBIs, 48 walks and only 59 strikeouts over 130 games played. 

More importantly, Kirk has been pure clutch for the Jays this season, coming up with some big hits when the team needed it most. With runners in scoring position, he has batted an impressive .315 with an .816 OPS, along with cashing in 58 runners in 124 at-bats in such situations.

On top of that, Jays fans know Kirk would always make it tough on the opposing pitcher to get him out and end up wearing them down in the process.

Secondly, Kirk has helped make the Jays’ pitching staff as one of best in the league in terms of registering strikeouts, as they have recorded 1430 punchouts to rank sixth in the league. A lot of that has to do with the veteran catcher’s elite ability to frame pitches.

Kirk has been among the best in all of MLB during the past few seasons and this year was no different as he ranked second only to Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants with 16 catcher framing runs in 2025. By saving so many runs from scoring courtesy of getting the third strike call, it certainly helped the Jays to much success and unexpected winning this season.

Finally, never underestimate his defensive impact on the game as well. Of course, Kirk is no Varsho, but he definitely holds his own behind the plate with a solid .991 fielding percentage over a whopping 1012 chances along with nine defensive runs saved. Kirk has also thrown out close to 20% of the baserunners trying to steal, along with allowing just four passed balls all season.

And who knows, he could even surprise everyone once again with his speed on the basepaths to add another further element to his game, since after all, we all remember he did this. 

Of course, there’s always the solid backup in Tyler Heineman, but let’s be honest, the drop-off would be quite significant if the Jays need to resort to the 34-year-old journeyman to carry the load.

So for a player that can surely impact the hitting, pitching and defensive aspects of the game effectively at the same time like Kirk, the Jays can really ill-afford to lose his services at any point in time during their World Series run.