Alejandro Kirk

Kirk was one of the league's top hitting catchers as his 129 wRC+ was highest among the five backstops with at least 500 plate appearances. His plate skills remained excellent, with a 50% groundball rate supporting an increased BABIP. Kirk's exit velocity on fly balls increased, indicating his patience allowed turning on pitches he can drive, so while his power fell, it wasn't commensurate with the increase in grounders. Lost in Kirk's exploits at the plate were his improvements behind it. Kirk's defense improved significantly, specifically with regards to framing, but he also caught 26% of base stealers as opposed to 19% the prior campaign. Still just 24 years old, Kirk can easily regain some of the loft on batted balls, increasing power. Even with the uptick in defense, Kirk will often serve as designated hitter, so he should again combine quality and quantity into a top-10 fantasy backstop.

Kirk is the type of player that is often overlooked as he is a bowling ball at 5-foot-8, 265 pounds. He's given the fantasy community reason to be excited about his bat, however, posting above-average slash lines in his two MLB seasons so far. His 2021 wasn't nearly as good as his short run in 2020 (165 wRC+), but Kirk still managed eight homers while striking out a mere 22 times in 189 plate appearances (11.6%). He missed multiple months with a left hip flexor strain, spent some time in the minors and didn't end on a particularly strong note, batting .200 over the final month of the season. Meanwhile, Danny Jansen exploded for a .310/.365/.707 line over the final month, creating some questions about Kirk's role behind the dish to begin 2022. Kirk's framing didn't grade out well last year and the Blue Jays have another exciting catcher in the pipeline in Gabriel Moreno, but Kirk already showed at ages 21 and 22 that he can easily clear the low offensive bar at the position.

Whoever is reading this might look more like a pro athlete than Kirk does, but he's the one who jumped over Double-A and Triple-A and hit .375 in his first 25 MLB plate appearances as a 21-year-old. The 5-foot-9, 220-pound backstop's innate bat-to-ball ability is what allowed him to ascend so rapidly through the minors. Toronto might also be viewing this as his athletic prime, as he really can't afford to lose what little agility he still possesses. There are obviously questions about his defense behind the dish, but so far he has proved adequate enough to at least work in a timeshare. Additionally, Kirk has enough power to bang out double-digit home runs in a full season. He will be competing with Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire this spring. Toronto could send him to Triple-A for a bit more seasoning, but he's a solid bet to be a good fantasy catcher if and when he plays.