There were numerous occasions during the 2019 Florida State League season when an opposing player or umpire would sidle up to Dunedin Blue Jays first base coach Jake McGuiggan to get the inside scoop on Alejandro Kirk.
They had seen the social media clips or heard the scuttlebutt around baseball and they needed to know: Was the five-foot-eight, 265-pound catcher really one of the best in the minor leagues?
“It was almost like there was this mythical legend about Kirk,†McGuiggan said this week. “They would ask something along the lines of, ‘Is he as legit as people are saying he is? Is he really that good?’ â€
McGuiggan was more than happy to validate the rumours. “I said, ‘Yeah, he’s that good. Just wait until you see him hit.’ â€
Blue Jays fans have had that chance the last two weeks, since the 21-year-old native of Tijuana, Mexico, capped a meteoric rise over the past 15 months from rookie ball with the Bluefield Blue Jays to the big leagues. Eight games into his major-league career, Kirk entered Friday with a .381 average, a home run, two doubles and three RBIs. He had a four-hit night against the New York Yankees, and has likely earned himself a spot in the Jays’ post-season lineup.
He has quickly become a fan favourite, and it’s not the first time. After he impressed at spring training, a small but passionate #FreeKirk campaign began on social media, with fans clamouring for him to be called up.
It’s no surprise to those who have worked with Kirk. A largely unheralded prospect in the star-studded Jays system, Kirk’s unusual body type and humble baseball roots have the propensity to surprise.
“From the outside, I think it’s just he doesn’t look like what we picture a professional athlete to look like. I think at every level he’s kind of had a cult following,†said Matt Young, the hitting coach at class-A Dunedin. “People want to root for guys that bring the unexpected.â€
The Jays had limited money available to sign an international player in 2016 after incurring a penalty in order to land Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a year earlier. When they completed a $30,000 (U.S.) deal with the Mexican league’s Toros de Tijuana for Kirk in September 2016, he received $7,500 of that under the system in place at the time, according to Sportsnet. It was a far cry from the $3.9-million payout to Guerrero in 2015 or the $1.1-million draft bonus ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ handed to Bo Bichette earlier that summer.
Kirk probably made more in his first week in the big leagues than his signing bonus.
“He certainly was not on a ton of huge radars like the Guerreros, the Bichettes, the (San Diego Padres’ Fernando) Tatis Jrs, those type of guys,†said McGuiggan, who first met Kirk when he spent 2018 in Bluefield as a video assistant. “I think, internally, everyone that’s worked with him on the field over the last couple of years, we certainly knew that he had big-league talent. I personally always thought it was never a matter of if, it was just a matter of when.â€
Kirk developed a reputation in the Jays’ system for a quiet, laid-back personality, a low heart rate and even-keeled attitude in games, and the care he took with his pitching staff. Kirk earned rave reviews from rehabbing big-leaguers like Clay Buchholz and T.J. Zeuch in Florida, despite external conversations about whether he would be able to catch because of his size.
“People definitely made assumptions based on his body that he might not be a great catcher but he definitely proved everyone wrong with that, with how good he was at receiving,†McGuiggan said.
Sean Rackoski, a 25-year-old reliever who pitched to Kirk in Bluefield, low class-A Lansing and Dunedin, called the catcher his “calming presence.â€
“Throughout the games I wouldn’t really hear him talk much about hitting or anything, he was always talking to me about my pitching,†he said. “That was his main focus, to collaborate with the pitchers. Before you knew it, at the end of the game, he was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.â€
Kirk’s hand-eye coordination stands out, both behind the dish and at the plate, Rackoski said. McGuiggan lauds him for his “tremendous barrel-to-ball skills†and intelligent approach. He doesn’t try to do too much at the plate, Young said, which helps him get back on track quickly if he ever starts to slump. He had 89 walks, compared to 60 strikeouts, over 151 minor-league games, went deep 17 times and had a .315 average with a 1.028 OPS.
In a normal season, Kirk likely would have started the season in double-A New Hampshire and advanced to the triple-A Buffalo by year’s end. Instead, he’s taking his big-league opportunity in stride.
“But we saw (his) approach in spring training,†Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He never chased any bad pitches and he did the same thing in summer camp and it was like, ‘Man, this guy’s got a chance.’ It’s impressive to me to see someone that young and never played above single-A to do what he has done.â€
Kirk knows exactly who he is as a hitter, his former hitting coach said, and has absolute confidence that he is better than the guy on the mound — even when that guy is Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.
“It’s beautiful in how he does it because he’s not cocky. It doesn’t rub anybody the wrong way, whatsoever,†Young said.
More than that, Kirk goes out of his way to do the little things for those around him, like bringing a teammate a bat he left in the cage or finding a home for discarded glove. It may sound silly, Young said, but over a long baseball season, those random acts of thoughtfulness add up.
His new teammates are starting to see similar qualities.
“I think Kirky’s an excellent ballplayer, plus he comes here early every day, he works very hard. I believe when you do that every day, you have your own routine every day, you’re going to be successful,†said Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Kirk is the prototype for a prosperous ballplayer, no matter how he looks.
“This is the blueprint of how you win baseball games, how you become better,†Young said. “So people start following him, coaches start rooting for him a little bit harder and fighting for him more, and you see where he ended up this year, which is pretty awesome.â€
You can certainly count his former teammates and coaches as members of the Kirk fan wagon.
“Everybody’s fully on the Kirk train,†Rackoski said. “There’s nobody that doesn’t support him because he’s just such a good, well-rounded guy and obviously an incredible player.â€
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