The Blue Jays Are Being Rewarded for Going Against The Grain
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Standing just five feet eight on a good day and built like a bowling ball, Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk has been mistaken for a clubhouse attendant and a stadium employee.
But he was the Blue Jays' most valuable player in August. Kirk helped Toronto climb back into contention for the AL's third Wild Card spot by leading the American League in Fangraphs WAR for the month of August, thanks to his offensive outburst and exceptional work behind the dish.
Finding Kirk-y
In 2016, the Blue Jays were limited to $300K for international signings after spending $3.9M the prior year on a can't-miss prospect named Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Dean Decillis, then a special assignment scout for Toronto, went to Tijuana, Mexico, to scout a showcase game. He was there to scout the opposing catcher, but couldn't keep his eyes off Kirk.
Keegan Mathieson of MLB.com shared that he then called Toronto's International Scouting Director, Andrew Tinnish, who had sent him to Mexico, to tell him about Kirk repeating the refrain, "He can hit, he can hit, he can hit."
But ti also came with a caveat. "It's not a great body."
In the book Moneyball, author Michael Lewis shared that Billy Beane repeated the refrain, 'We aren't selling jeans here," every time a scout advocated for a player because he had a great baseball body. In the movie version, the tension in the room was palpable between the old-school scouts and the new-school analytics nerds.
Decillis knew, though, that scouts and player development people still focused on body types even though it had been nearly fifteen years since the book came out. He warned Tinnish that player development would have major questions about the signing.
Kirk is officially listed at 5'8" and 245 pounds, which might be as generous as your average online dating profile.
An early professional scouting report compared his build to that of the late Chris Farley.
Tinnish asked Decillis to stand behind the signing. Decillis said he would.
And ten years later, the Blue Jays sure are glad he did.
Kirk was the Blue Jays' best player in August, leading Toronto to the second-best August record in the American League at 17-11, behind only Tampa (18-10). The Blue Jays' playoff odds, according to Fangraphs, tripled from the beginning to the end of August, now standing at 24%.
Toronto also has the easiest remaining schedule among the contenders for the last Wild Card spot.
The Blue Jays signed Kirk for $30,000. His Mexican League club, the Toros de Tijuana, was entitled to 75% of that, leaving Kirk with $7,500.
This year, he is vastly outperforming Guerrero Jr, who signed for 30 times as much.
True to Decillis scouting report, Kirk can hit.
For the month, he slashed .341/.412/.534, good for a .946 OPS. He also topped the American League in defensive WAR, besting Bobby Witt Jr., one of three Blue Jays in the top six, with Andres Gimenez 4th and the surprising Brett Bateman 6th.
Kirk ranks in the 97th percentile in both blocking and framing, though he is more middle of the pack in catching runners trying to steal.
The Stolen Base Heard Around The World
But wait, there's more.
On Saturday, former Blue Jays catcher, turned manager, turned broadcaster Buck Martinez was inducted into the club's Hall of Excellence. The Blue Jays surprised him by gifting him a golf cart in a rousing pre-game ceremony.
Kirk saved a bigger surprise for the bottom of the sixth.
After his single gave Toronto a 4-3 lead, Kirk stole second without a throw, prompting the Blue Jays broadcasters to ask, 'What in the world?' as the crowd erupted.
It was the second stolen base of his career. After the first, Kirk said that when first-base coach Mark Budzinski told him to go, he responded, "Are you serious?"
After the first stolen base, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tore second base out of the ground and gave it to Kirk.
Kirk, after all, is as slow as a fax machine. His 23.5 feet-per-second sprint speed this year is the slowest of any starting catcher in baseball. He won't be threatening Rickey Henderson's career stolen-base record.
Sprint Speed, MLB Catchers
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 30, 2026
(feet/second, 75+ competitive runs this year):
28.4 Langeliers
28.2 Realmuto
28.1 Davis
27.8 Jensen
27.6 Wong
27.3 Dingler, O'Hoppe
27.2 Goodman
27.0 Stephenson
26.9 Fortes
26.5 Torrens
26.3 Rutschman, Jeffers
26.1 Diaz, Moreno, Mack
25.9 Baldwin,… https://t.co/x4Al8EfVsX
Kirk's Value Might Be Underestimated
Kirk has also handled the pitching staff well. In 2026, Toronto pitchers have an ERA of 3.74 with Kirk on the mound and 4.09 without him. On Sunday, he helped Max Scherzer turn back time, and Scherzer, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, and other veteran pitchers have all lauded Kirk's ability to call a game from behind the plate.
Since the start of 2022, when he became Toronto's starting catcher, Kirk has led all Blue Jays position players in WAR. Yep, more than Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and George Springer.
Among all Major League catchers over that period, only Cal Raleigh, William Contreras, and Adley Rutschman have provided more value to their teams than Kirk.
Signs Regression Might Be Coming
There are some warning signs on Kirk's Statcast page. His barrel rate is just 3.8%, roughly half of his career average. His average exit velocity is down nearly 3 mph from last year, and his expected stats are well below his actual offensive stats.
Some of these numbers are affected by Kirk missing over two months due to a fractured thumb and then struggling upon his return.
A Win for the Scouts
Moneyball depicted a world of scouts versus nerds. Nearly 25 years later, the most successful teams combine both scouting and analytics. Kirk is one of the victories for scouts.
A scout with conviction found an unheralded player. He advocated for him even though the two had never met or spoken, and he had a "bad body." The organization trusted the scout and took a chance. That chance has now paid off, with Toronto having one of the top catchers in baseball locked up through the 2030 season.
When recalling the story to Mathieson of finding Kirk, Tinnish, now Toronto's Vice President, International Scouting & Baseball Operations, said, "Sometimes, you've got to dream on guys, right?"
Even when they aren't going to sell any jeans.
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Adam Steinmetz writes about the Toronto Blue Jays for On SI. Adam is also the editor and publisher of the Boston Sunday Sports Section, a weekly digital publication covering the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins. A two-time winner of the Best Collegiate Sports Writer award in Philadelphia, he began his career with freelance work for The Philadelphia Daily News and The Palm Beach Post before building a successful career outside of journalism. He returned to sports writing last year, contributing to Pitcher List—including coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays—before launching Authorenticity on Substack, where he explores the human stories within baseball. The Boston Sunday Sports Section is his most ambitious project — the thinking fan’s modern Sunday Sports Section focused on the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins.