When we think about the biggest factors that have led to the Blue Jays being in a much better position in late June this year as opposed to last season, what comes to mind?

The most obvious choice would likely be the bullpen, a group that finished last season with the worst fWAR (-2.5) while currently ranking ninth this season at 2.3 WAR. The second most popular option would be Addison Barger, who’s putting his elite toolset to use and having it show up in game results. You’d be remiss, however, if you didn’t think Alejandro Kirk has factored into the *massive* turnaround of the 2025 Blue Jays.

He’s arguably been the biggest reason why.

When you look at Kirk’s year-to-year progression at the plate, you can see just how large the gains have been for him. He’s added 2.2 MPH to his bat speed, which has led him to increase his hard-hit rate by 15.4% making him the AL leader in that regard (yes, he has a higher hard-hit% than Aaron Judge). The batted ball data has simply skyrocketed, the Jays catcher has added over .100 points to his expected slugging%, he’s added nearly 3 MPH to his average exit velocity, and is barreling baseballs 3.3% more often than he did last year.

You may look at those gains and think “well that’s not much of an increase,” but consider that every MPH of bat speed added equates to roughly a 1.4-1.8 MPH increase in average exit velocity. That is not a small difference by any means.

The biggest singular factor for Kirk’s ascension this season may simply be the damage he’s doing to fastballs.

Last year, Kirk hit .267 off fastballs, slugged .361, and had a wOBA of .319. The expected stats tell us he did get a bit unlucky as his xBA of .272, xSLG of .418, and his xwOBA of .348  paint the picture.

In 2025, the Jays’ backstop has absolutely mashed the good ole country hardball, as he’s currently hitting .338, to go along with a .485 SLG, and .374 wOBA. Much like last year, the expected stats tell us he’s also been unlucky (.342 xBA/.552 SLG/.396 xwOBA). He’s also done all of this without sacrificing any contact, as his whiff% still ranks in the 84th percentile amongst hitters.

Kirk has made a couple of subtle changes in the batter’s box.

The first being, he’s now standing much closer to the plate than he did last year. This has helped him effectively cover the outer part of the plate better, so he’s able to drive that outside pitch to his power ally in right center rather than to reach for the pitch and weakly roll over a grounder to 2nd base like he’d been doing in the past. The added bat speed has also allowed him to be on time to pitches on the inner half and pull them with authority, as evidenced by that swing he put on a JP Sears fastball.

The other, more subtle change Kirk has made is with his lower half. He’s got slightly more bend in his knees, and he’s really driving his hips as he swings, which helps in creating more bat speed. Long story short, Alejandro is now at the plate looking to create damage contact as opposed to just contact. Every little change he’s made, whether it be with his body or as simple as where he stands in the batter’s box, has been made with the sole purpose of doing exactly that.

When you pair the offence growth along with the fact that Kirk’s arguably the best defensive catcher in the game, you have an incredibly valuable player.

His 2.7 fWAR ranks 19th among all hitters in baseball and third amongst all catchers, trailing only Cal Raleigh and Will Smith. The 5 year/$58 million dollar extension was always going to net the Blue Jays surplus value simply off of Kirk’s defensive value alone. Now that he’s turned into the best hitting version of himself with underlying numbers that support it being 100% real, that contract has a chance to be amongst the most team-friendly deals in all of baseball.