The Blue Jays will be without catcher Alejandro Kirk for at least the next four weeks after sustaining a hip flexor injury, general manager Ross Atkins announced yesterday while acknowledging that the absence “could be longer” than that (link via the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm). Kirk exited the Blue Jays’ game on May 1 early after apparently sustaining the injury while running down the line after hitting a ball that narrowly went foul. He initially stayed in but was removed innings later and hit the 10-day IL the following day.
Sportsnet’s Ben Wagner reported earlier in the week that Kirk could miss at least six weeks, but the team has publicly put forth a slightly more optimistic timeline. Whether Kirk is sidelined until late May or mid-to-late June, it’s another tough loss for a Jays club that, like so many other teams around the league, has been hit hard by injuries in 2021. Kirk went 0-for-13 to start the season, but his bat has taken off in the 33 plate appearances since. He also impressed down the stretch with a big late showing in 2020 and is currently carrying a stout .281/.352/.516 batting line with four homers and three doubles through his first 71 MLB plate appearances.
With the 22-year-old Kirk sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Jays will entrust catching duties to Danny Jansen and the recently promoted Reese McGuire. Jansen, who turned 26 last month, has been the Blue Jays’ primary backstop for the past couple seasons but has seen his bat decline since a promising rookie showing in 2018. After batting .247/.347/.432 in 95 plate appearances as a rookie, he’s managed only a .188/.275/.336 line through 597 trips to the plate. McGuire hit well in 2018 but went just 3-for-41 last season.
In addition to Kirk, the Jays are without George Springer (quad strain), David Phelps (lat strain), Julian Merryweather (oblique strain) and Kirby Yates (Tommy John surgery). They’ve also already had weeks-long absences for Hyun Jin Ryu (glute strain) and Teoscar Hernandez (Covid-19), although both are now back with the club.
OK, he’s a Catcher and they get beat up…..but it wasn’t related to catching.
This is what happens when the entire MLB tries to play every game as if they were Grady Sizemore. The sport has a rhythm to it. It’s “a marathon not a sprint”. Players used to “Pick their spots”. No longer.
These guys payed in 2020. They had access to trainers, equipment, etc. They had to have…..because by mid-2020 I was exercising at a club that had reopened.
The FO’s that are running the sport have no clue what they’ve done as “The Game Has Changed”. Injury updates – Every. Single. Day. In a non-contact sport (they’ve outlawed contact at the bases and padded all the walls). If this happened in other businesses, government agencies would be investigating them. Wait till a thrown bat comes down and hits a player.
Alejandro Kirk does not play the game like Grady Sizemore. Playing the game like Grady Sizemore is not why Kirk reached the IL.
So wait. Ross Atkins gives an update on Kirk’s timeline and ‘TorontoFan’ tells us it’s all Atkins’ fault and the fault of baseball clubs.
I think Canada is an Indian word that means ‘Not Place for Baseball
…And Le Grande Orangerie is french for “one with the same mental capacity as an orange”.
Le Grande, You get jilted by a Canadian GF or something in the past? Every single Blue Jays post brings out your tiresome outtakes against Canadians.
???
What are you even trying to say here? That all these injuries are occurring due to player’s playing in an all-out fashion? To be clear your “picking spots” is advocating not hustling. Correct?
For a fella who pans fangraphs & savant (“I know what I see!” & “There is no statistic for that!”,etc) this is a startling post.
I see you tried to wind it up with your usual “outrage” & hollow “disgust” for modern MLB. So that was comforting as it’s what I’ve come to expect from your quarter.
However, this particular HOTTAKE!, seemed to get well away from you. But ups on gettin it in at the gym.
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He’s a catcher with a strained hip. Kind of
amazing it doesn’t happen much more often than it actually does.
No one knows what you are talking about.
This is what people forget when they blast the owners for being cheap and not signing free agents (I do it too) – they take all the risk with guaranteed deals. Only risk for the players is if they outperform their contract. But even then, it’s usually just a question of how many millions.
???
Reese gets another shot to “beat” the odds on making full time roster,
If he hits even a little bit, Reese could be handy to have around
He needs to get back to his old firm. In 18/19 he was a handful for opposing pitchers. In 2020 he was only a handful for himself.
He needs to rise to the occasion and take matters into his own hands
Oh my gosh. I’m bad luck. I called it.
He’s only an improvement from Jansen at the plate, but the jays have a deep enough offense that they don’t need much out of that position. Just manage the staff, control the running game and mix in a hit once in a while
@Dusty that is BS, a catcher has to hit somewhat if a team wants to win. We as Blue Jays fans have watched enough of the automatic out when Jansen has been coming to the plate.
Also to your point on the catching side Jansen can’t throw out runners and he is not that great at game calling/controlling the staff. He has improved over last year BUT last year was the first time I heard of a catcher not being on the same page as Ryu as often as Jansen was. It took him all of last year to get there with Ryu.. Ryu had multiple catchers in LA and of the games I watched I never once seen that as a prolonged game over game problem like it was for Jansen. Ryu is just one example.
Jansen is just 26, and came up an offensive catcher. I’m not saying you give him the job for the next 5 years without merit. I’m just saying that the Kirk injury is a manageable one, the offense can and has handled a black hole from the catcher spot. Your critiques against him seem more anecdotal than anything else
Besides pitchers in the NL catchers have the lowest expectations and stats at the plate. They can handle Kirks injury, that’s all I’m saying
No the team can’t handle an automatic out in the lineup if they expect to win.
How this for anecdotal go check his defensive stats from last year…I will get you started, from Rotowire, his DRS (defensive runs saved) was a -4, his adj.ERA (his ability to handle a pitching staff) was a -2 and his strike zone rating (pitch framing) was -3. He also is up there in innings caught so not a small sample size..
So if he can’t hit and his defense is not so great then why justify keeping the black hole in the lineup and say the offense is good enough?
This is the Majors not the try league and I want the Blue Jays to win so accepting below average catching and hitting from the catchers spot is not OK for me and as a Blue Jays fan it should not be OK for you if you want this team to win..
Darth let’s get a few things out of the way here.
The Jays were set up for 8 players to mash. They haven’t received that contribution. Dusty did conveniently forget to mention Jansen had some awful offensive years in the minors in 2015 and 2016. A .777 OPS in the minors. Nothing special.
We know Ryu has a good working relationship with Jansen. That’s all we should care about. Keep the ace happy. Jansen is a 1-2 game per week backup at this point.
Flawed defensive metrics aside, and it is flawed, Jansen has been more than a fine defender. Not going to rely on math geeks to suggest how a catcher can properly frame or block pitches. That’s insanity.
Your last point is valid, but let’s expand that to starting pitching. The major area of need is still a problem. It’s not ok for me as a Blue Jays fan and I want to see them dominate the AL East.
Solid post.
“.777 OPS in the minors. Nothing Special”
Cmon man, .777 ops from a catcher is pretty damn good, 25 teams would gladly take that. It’s not a premier offensive position.
Earth. There is NO team in the league that doesn’t have holes. You’re fixated on one position and it’s the least important offensive position.
I do agree the Jays can do better in this position overall but they have far more important holes to plug up before they worry about this. Also they have some good looking prospects in the minors that could developed and take over.
Cheers
I am not focused on one thing its just that this article was about the Blue Jays catching. Your right they have multiple holes. They need a Major League manager and a ton of pitching along with a bat of the bench.
As for prospects they are just that until they provide a major leaguer and I want to win now not in 2 years when some of the younger players are in the last years with the Blue Jays.
As a fan don`t you want to win? or would you rather more years of mediocrity and drink the kool aid of “We are getting close now and when the time is right we will bring in the players needed” blah
Of course but would using prospect capital to bring an a top tier catcher (how many are even top tier or available) on the top of the list to take this team to the next level?
They won’t be in win now mode until they get a #2 and a #3 starter and I’d even prioritize an power hitting/ good defensive 3b over a Jansen upgrade.
Dusty, a .777 is fine for a Catcher. But not in the minor leagues. Nobody would call that eye popping.
25 teams would take that. In the major leagues. He hasn’t done that.
Let us know when he does. Until then I’ll take Jansen’s D and hope the other 8 guys hit.
I wasn’t suggesting trading top tier prospects for a top tier catcher, like you said if even available but prospects are just prospects until they produce a major leaguer. So why did they not let Adams catch a game or 2 and see what he does….nothing to lose? Why not take a flyer on a guy like Chrinos (before the Yankees snatched him up) who know what might of happened.
As for the other things the Jays need …Yes and more but you gotta start somewhere and this article was about Jays catching.
Dusty
You are spot on with your take about trading prospects. If the Jays trade any high end prospects ( Top 10 ) it has to be for starting pitching. With that being said Pearson/Manoah/SWR should be near untouchable. I would move Martin or Groshans over any of the 3 pitchers.
The Jays need catchers that can at least replacement level. Forget the kool aid that says just manage the pitching no staff and focus on defence. That idea is crap. Championship teams need both offence and defence out of the catching position.
If McGuire would focus on OBP and hitting it up the middle and forget trying to hit a homer every at bat he’d likely turn out to be a good offensive catcher.
Can tell you’re a real Jays fan by misspelling defense.
That’s the Canadian/British spelling of “defence”. So no, they’re correct, in fact.
The same applies to “offence”. Both “offence” and “defence” are spelled with a c rather than an s in British English.
Pronounced “oh fence.” I learned that from watching hockey.
Can tell Steve is a Yankee fan by his reply and avatar.
Jimmertee I agree. You look at the catchers Yankees and red Sox had over the years that could hit and catch. Posada. Varitek to name a couple. Both got rings
2018 Red sox (a team in your own division) won the world series with a catching group that didnt hit 10 hrs total and batted at or just a little below 200 for the season. They really were not that great hitters but solid defensive catchers and game callers. So that you NEED both offense and defense from the catchers position is not true. If you have a good pitching, solid defense, and overall TEAM that can hit you do not need a catcher that can hit.
But as stated above Jansen can’t hit at all and his defense is “average” maybe at best. McGuire just got here and Kirk is out for a month or more.
i think a 200 average from Jansen would at least mean he is not an automatic out. Currently batting 083..
Jansen’s first in the MLB in catcher dWAR, meaning that…
his defence is elite, and he is, at the moment, the best defensive catcher in the major leagues.
so what your saying is 6 hits from your worst hitter over the course of 30ish games would have made your team elite because that is what it would take to make Jansen a .200 hitter.
You would trade elite defense and game calling for average to less than average defense and game calling for 6 hits? You should trade Jansen for Gary Sanchez right now .. may need to throw in a prospect to the yankees so it evens out.
Jansen is not elite defense BUT it appears the Blue Jays are going to use him almost everyday so if he hit 200ish that would be at least better than the current .083.
If you want stats there are many quoted in the comments in this article and on multiple websites. As stated earlier he is ranked 28th by MLB in defense but if you take out the guys with less than 10 games he is 19th so not elite but if you hate stats want the eye test vs. other catchers he is average IMO.
Yes I would take Sanchez and pair him with McGuire (whom I think is a good defender) to give the team a more traditional catching tandem. I think a change of scenery might actually help Sanchez settle down and become a better catcher.
The Red Sox were in a unique situation in 2018. As they had 3 catchers that were good to great defensively and great at game calling, as for Jansen he is neither of those. Example, the indians just loss Perez for 4 to 6 weeks. But they have Hedges and Rivera as catchers. Both are good to great defensively and atngame calling. Neither will ever hit for average and at least Hedges can hit double digit homeruns.
One stat does not a player make……..but to your point he is ranked 28th overall by Major League Baseball in accordance to defense BUT if you take out the catchers with less than 10 games (Jansen has 22) he ranks 19th according to MLB. Kirk would rank 31 or 21 if you take out those with less than 10 games. THIS IS BASED ON DEFENSE ONLY from catchers. So not elite but he has improved SO FAR but its only been 22 games (18 starts) for Jansen..
i wish Jansen no ill will so if he is improving and his homer last night is the beginning of a great turn around then come on with it I would love to eat crow on him if it means team wins BUT its been 2 years of not much on either side of the ball and I want a winning team.
Hey MLBTR you missed one yesterday, When Ryu came back to start yesterday’s game against Oakland, you missed David Phelps going on the IL
With all the injuries every team is having it’s probably hard for even mlbtr to keep up