Alejandro Kirk needs to build off the end of his 2024 season.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Alejandro Kirk.
Kirk had his career year in 2022, where he slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14 home runs in 541 plate appearances for a 129 wRC+ and a 4.3 fWAR. However, his 2023 was a step back offensively, and 2024 wasn’t much better.
As a whole, Kirk slashed .253/.319/.359 with five home runs in 386 plate appearances for a 94 wRC+ and a 2.8 fWAR. However, there are some positive signs regarding his 2024 season. From the start of the season until Apr. 12, Kirk slashed .133/.200/.133 with no home runs in 50 plate appearances for a -2 wRC+.
From Apr. 14 until the end of the season though, Kirk slashed .271/.336/.393 with five home runs in 336 plate appearances for a 108 wRC+, the best he’s looked since 2022. After Danny Jansen was traded, Kirk slashed .288/.349/.418 with three home runs in 189 plate appearances for a 121 wRC+, strikingly similar to his 2022 season.
Fangraphs’ steamer believes that Kirk will have a 2025 season similar to his 2022 season. It has him slashing .271/.348/.412 with 11 home runs in 425 plate appearances for a 120 wRC+ and a 3.9 fWAR.
Regardless of how Kirk performs with the bat, he’ll always have value as he’s one of the best defensive catchers in the league. Last season, Kirk’s 13 Defensive Runs Saved ranked tied for fourth in the league for catchers, while his Fielding Run Value of 15 led American League catchers. Over the past three seasons, his 39 DRS is tied for the second-most in Major League Baseball while his 35 FRV ranks second for all catchers.
If the bat comes around in 2025, he could be one of the valuable Blue Jays players next season.