Most of the Toronto Blue Jays’ recent success — they’re 13-7 since July 27 and are tied with the New York Mets for the fourth-best record in the majors during that span — has been tied to the pitching staff, which ranks first in innings pitched (185.2) and second in ERA (2.91) across this 20-game stretch.

On the offensive side, though, look no further than Alejandro Kirk.

In the two months since his return from a fractured left thumb, the two-time All-Star is looking like himself at the plate again. It’s taken roughly 100 plate appearances to feel comfortable in the batter’s box following his extended IL stint — needing those reps to perfect his mechanics and timing. But it’s all come together for him lately.

Over Kirk’s last 20 games (80 plate appearances), Toronto’s right-handed-hitting catcher has posted three home runs, 12 RBIs and a stellar .368/.438/.515 slash line, earning a 165 wRC+ (100 league average). He’s also walked (12.5 per cent) more than he’s struck out (11.3 per cent) during this recent stretch — another telltale sign that his offensive craft is in a good place.

With the Blue Jays’ offence thin on dependable performers, Kirk’s current surge couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time, as he leads this lineup in almost every measurable metric since July 22, including home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, weighted on-base average and expected wOBA, as well as wRC+.

Just for good measure, Kirk also leads all Toronto position players in fWAR (1.3) over the last almost 30-day span, too.

Not only has the 27-year-old backstop — in the first season of a five-year, $58 million extension — been carrying the freight for this team lately, but he’s also been one of baseball’s most productive hitters in recent weeks. In this span, he sits third in AVG, sixth in OBP and tied for 10th in wRC+ among qualified major-league batters entering Tuesday’s series opener at Tropicana Field.

Granted, despite Kirk’s incredible efforts, they haven’t moved the needle much in terms of boosting this inconsistent offence’s stock. In this same span, they’re currently positioned in the bottom third of the sport in OBP, SLG, wOBA, xwOBA and wRC+, as well as home runs — producing the second-fewest (15) here.

Still, imagine how much worse Toronto’s offensive production would be without Kirk’s resurgence. His bat is one of the only things keeping this lineup afloat right now, especially with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the seven-day concussion IL and George Springer playing through an injured left shoulder that has dramatically impacted his production, as he’s 3-for-his-last-30 and is without an extra-base hit across his previous 13 games.

Kirk is doing all he can to assume the role of aircraft carrier, and other teams are starting to take notice — most recently the Yankees, who intentionally walked him twice on Saturday with an open first base.

In all likelihood, Kirk’s intentional walk totals — which doubled against the Yankees over the weekend — will only continue to grow down the stretch unless one of Toronto’s other core bats catches fire soon. As much as the rookie duo of Charles McAdoo (carrying a 180 wRC+ in his last seven games) and Brett Bateman have been a much-needed spark plug for this team, it’ll require a heater from Guerrero, Springer, or Kazuma Okamoto to meaningfully alter how opposing teams approach this lineup.

But we can probably save the sustainability debate for another day. There are only 36 games left to play this season, and with the Blue Jays firmly back in contention for the final American League wild-card spot, the “how” has taken a backseat to “how many” when it comes to wins.

More than anything, that’s all anyone will be focused on across these final six weeks.

For Kirk, whose contact-oriented approach has fueled his second-half surge, particularly his in-zone contact rate, which has jumped from 86.5 per cent to 92 per cent since July 22, is well on his way to salvaging what’s been a difficult, injury-shortened 2026 campaign.

Thanks to this recent turnaround, his overall offensive marks have already started to recover nicely, currently sitting six per cent above league average per wRC+ through 50 games on the year. At this pace, he’s on track to finish this season as a two-win catcher via fWAR again — albeit in just half a season’s worth of results — which would extend his streak to five consecutive seasons.

Of course, that’s a far cry from where he finished a year ago, coming within 0.3 points of being worth five wins above replacement for the first time in his career — and in 130 games, mind you. Still, if everything stays the course here and the Blue Jays wind up claiming that final wild-card seed, he’ll be among the key factors who helped punch their ticket.

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