There's a good coach behind every great defensive catcher. Ask the Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk

Hamilton Spectator

15-07-2025

Alejandro Kirk is headed back to the all-star game
after a two-year absence, having finally put every facet of his game together.
He came to
the Blue Jays
as a
raw, 21-year-old, bat-to-ball savant
with a lot of work to do behind the plate and
slugged his way to the midsummer classic in 2022,
just his second full season in the majors.
The next two years, though, the Mexican native transformed into a light-hitting defensive stud, the best catcher in the game at turning balls into strikes and adept at blocking pitches in the dirt. This year,
he has added a killer throwing arm and the bat is back
. The package is complete. But he needed help to get there.
The Blue Jays confirmed Clancy's death in a social media post Monday. A cause of death was not
After a last-place finish in 2024, a season in which Kirk posted full-season career lows in home runs, walks, on-base percentage and OPS, the catcher took six weeks off and then reported to the Jays' player development complex in Dunedin, Fla., in mid-November for an intense month of work with bullpen catcher and coach Luis Hurtado.
'We were working on defence,' Hurtado said in an interview that can be heard on the
July 10 episode of 'Deep Left Field,' the Star's baseball podcast
. 'We were working on hitting, we were doing a lot of stuff.'
Hurtado won't take credit for Kirk's evolution into the game's best defensive catcher, but there's no question the former minor-league manager had a lot to do with it.
'(Kirk is) a guy that I work with every day,' Hurtado said. 'I've been working with him since 2022 and, since then, he's been having great defensive seasons and he's one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball right now. He's really dedicated to his routines, he's really smart, he works hard and right now we're seeing the results of all the hard work that he's been putting in.'
The transformation behind the plate has been astounding.
'I remember in 2020 him coming up,' said manager John Schneider, who was a major-league coach without portfolio at the time. 'We were literally writing down on his wristband what (pitches) the pitchers threw.'
Working intensely with Hurtado, in season and out, the fast-learning Kik became great at framing pitches and blocking of balls in the dirt. But he knew he needed to improve his throwing.
'I worked on my arm, strengthening my arm (in the off-season),' Kirk said, through club translator Hector Lebron. 'That was one of the things I wanted to get better on. Of course, you've got to work with the timing, with the pitcher, holding the runners. You've got to get all that together. That allows me to get more runners.'
Hurtado had a willing pupil.
Toronto's former ace averaged 94.2 m.p.h. on his fastball, an increase from the 93.3 he averaged
'We put our attention on the little details behind the plate,' Hurtado said. 'How can we be better at framing? How can we develop his arm strength, which (has been) our main goal since 2023. You can see the results right now; he's one of the top catchers throwing guys out in the big leagues.
'It's just him dedicated to his work, dedicated to his routines and always positive. He's a fearless guy, a calm guy who always wants to get better and wants to help the team win.'
The numbers back up the claim. Kirk is leading all major-league catchers in the Statcast defensive metrics of fielding run value, framing runs and blocks above average, and he is fourth in caught stealing above average.
While Hurtado hasn't had as much of a hand in the breakout performance of another of the Jays' budding stars, he managed Addison Barger on his way up through the system, both in rookie ball in Bluefield, W.V., in 2019 and in Dunedin, which was then the Jays' high-A affiliate, in 2021. And even then, he saw this coming.
'No matter what was happening in an at-bat, he always had the mindset to swing hard,' said Hurtado, for whom Barger hit 20 home runs in 104 games over those two seasons. 'I saw some flashes in 2021, when he hit for the cycle.'
It was more than just a cycle. Barger went 5-for-5 against the Tampa Tarpons, a Yankees affiliate, in a May 28 game, with a single, a double, a triple, two home runs and seven RBIs in a 14-7 Blue Jays win. Future big-leaguer Randy Vazquez started for Tampa.
It's been 34 years since Toronto last hosted a Midsummer Classic, and a report suggests that the
'It was one of the best games I've ever seen in the minor leagues,' Hurtado said. 'And that was his first full season. He finished that year with 80 RBIs (in 91 games), so we know (it's in there) and I saw this kind of success was going to come sooner or later.'
Hurtado might only be working with the pitchers and catchers now, but he's also getting to enjoy some of the kids he managed on the way up, like Davis Schneider and Leo Jimenez along with Barger, having success at the highest level.
Kirk is going to his second all-star game, thanks in part to Hurtado's help. Barger may not be far behind.