Kirk has served as the designated hitter just once in the last 20 games, so nearly all his playing time has to come behind the plate. Danny Jansen hit the injured list with a strained left groin Friday, which could mean an increased role for Kirk going forward, but it's Tyler Heineman who will be the catcher Saturday.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Three hits in loss
Rotowire
Kirk went 3-for-4 with a run scored in Thursday's loss against the Rays.
Kirk was the lone Blue Jay to record more than one hit in the contest. After a slow start to the season, the 24-year-old backstop has started to heat up, going 9-for-25 in his last seven games. Kirk's now slashing .248/.360/.333 with two home runs, 11 runs scored and 12 RBI through 139 plate appearances. Kirk is certainly capable of providing offense from the catcher position, and he could see an expanded role depending on the severity of Danny Jansen's groin injury.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Relegated to bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rays.
Now on the bench for the fourth time in six games, Kirk looks like he'll be stuck in a part-time role between catcher and designated hitter until he can begin to catch fire at the plate. Though he's getting on base at a strong .353 clip thus far in 2023, Kirk isn't hitting the ball with much authority, as his ISO of .090 is down 40 points from last season. Since Danny Jansen remains the superior defender behind the plate, he'll likely continue to get the bulk of the starts at catcher at Kirk's expense.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Sitting again Saturday
Rotowire
Kirk is not in the starting lineup Saturday versus the Orioles.
Kirk will remain on the bench for a second straight game Saturday after he went 2-for-11 with a double and two strikeouts during the Toronto's three-game set with the Yankees earlier in the week. Danny Jansen will draw another start behind the plate and bat sixth against Baltimore.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Taking seat Tuesday
Rotowire
Kirk is absent from the Blue Jays' lineup for Tuesday's tilt against the Yankees, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.
Danny Jansen will catch Kevin Gausman. Kirk has seen his OPS fall to .658 after a 3-for-30 start at the plate this month.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: On bench again to begin Sunday
Rotowire
Kirk is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's contest against Atlanta.
Kirk will take a seat to begin a second consecutive game, although he did appear in Saturday's win over Atlanta while going 0-for-2. Danny Jansen will be behind the plate for the Blue Jays and hit eighth against Collin McHugh.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Kirk will sit Saturday against Atlanta.
Kirk's plate discipline remains excellent this season, as he's walked 17.1 percent of the time to go with a 13.0 percent strikeout rate. He hasn't done much damage when he hits the ball, however, homering just twice while hitting .230, though his 8.1 percent barrel rate is just a tenth of a point below league average, suggesting potential for improvement. Danny Jansen starts behind the plate Saturday.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Gets rest Wednesday
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
With the Blue Jays and Phillies concluding their series Wednesday with a game that begins at 4:05 p.m. ET, Kirk will receive a breather for getaway day after he caught all eight innings of Tuesday's 8-4 loss. Danny Jansen will step in behind the plate, catching for starting pitcher Kevin Gausman.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Receives breather Sunday
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates.
With a quick turnaround for Sunday's series finale, Kirk will get a breather after he caught all nine innings while going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run in Saturday's 8-2 win. Danny Jansen will slot in behind the plate while shortstop Bo Bichette gets a day out of the field and serves as Toronto's designated hitter.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Gets Monday off
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Red Sox.
Even though he produced five hits over his two starts this past weekend against the Mariners, Kirk will end up sitting for the second time in three days. Kirk still appears to be the Blue Jays' nominal No. 1 catcher, but Toronto remains incentivized to keep backup Danny Jansen involved due to Jansen's superior work on the defensive end.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Clubs second homer
Rotowire
Kirk went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 3-2 win over the Mariners.
The catcher became the first player this season to take Luis Castillo deep when he launched his second homer of the year in the second inning. Kirk has appeared in 20 of Toronto's 26 games so far while splitting his time between DH and catcher, posting a .263/.419/.386 slash line with seven runs and 10 RBI.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Not in lineup Saturday
Rotowire
Kirk is not in the lineup Saturday against the Mariners.
Kirk went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the Blue Jays' win over the Mariners on Friday, but he'll take a seat Saturday as Danny Jansen slots in at catcher. Brandon Belt is serving as the designated hitter.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Getting rest Tuesday
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the White Sox.
Danny Jansen is handling catching duties and Brandon Belt is serving as the Blue Jays' designated hitter, closing off Kirk's two avenues to playing time. Kirk is most likely just receiving a breather after he started at either catcher or DH each of the previous three days.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Sitting out Friday
Rotowire
Kirk is absent from the Blue Jays' lineup for Friday's game against the Yankees, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
Danny Jansen will catch Yusei Kikuchi while Vladimir Guerrero is in the designated hitter spot and Brandon Belt plays first base. Kirk hasn't done much at the plate in the early going with a .689 OPS.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Takes seat Monday
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.
Danny Jansen will draw the start at catcher while Brandon Belt serves as the Blue Jays' designated hitter with Kirk sitting after he had been included in the lineup in three of the past four games. With an even 8:8 BB:K through his first 13 games of the season, Kirk appears to be seeing the ball well, but it hasn't translated to eye-popping fantasy numbers. He enters Monday's game with a .243 average, one home run, nine RBI and four runs.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Out of lineup Friday
Rotowire
Kirk isn't starting in Toronto's game against Tampa Bay on Friday.
After going 3-for-8 with a home run and five RBI in Toronto's last series against the Tigers, Kirk will get an off day to begin the Jays' series with Tampa. Danny Jansen will take over behind the plate and bat eighth.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Taking Wednesday off
Rotowire
Kirk is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Danny Jansen will get a turn behind the plate while Kirk sits after starting at catcher in three of the Blue Jays' previous four games. Kirk is getting on base at a strong .344 clip so far this season, but aside from a respectable RBI total of six, he isn't providing much else in terms of fantasy numbers (.222 average, one home run, two runs, no stolen bases).
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Clubs first homer
Rotowire
Kirk went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in Tuesday's 9-3 win over the Tigers.
After the catcher got the Blue Jays on the board in the second inning with an RBI single, Kirk jumped all over a Mason Englert offering in the eighth inning and drove it down the left-field line for a three-run shot. It's the first homer, and first multi-hit game, of the season for the 24-year-old. Kirk is batting just .222 (6-for-27) through eight contests.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Not in lineup Sunday
Rotowire
Kirk is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Angels, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Kirk will get a day of rest Sunday while Danny Jansen gets the start behind the plate. The 24-year-old has gotten off to a slow start with the bat to begin 2023 with a .182/.308/.182 slash line over 22 at-bats in six games.
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Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Getting a day off
Rotowire
Kirk is absent from the Blue Jays' lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.
He caught Wednesday night, so it will be Danny Jansen for a day game after a night game. Kirk has exactly one hit in each of his four games this season and has two RBI and one run scored.
