The Toronto Blue Jays are surprisingly still in the hunt for a spot in the postseason with a 62-65 record, sitting just half a game out of the final American League Wild Card spot.
The Blue Jays are 7-3 in their last 10 games and 11-6 in August, collecting series win after series win and steadily climbing the Wild Card ladder.
Toronto has been rolling thanks in part to their catcher Alejandro Kirk, who’s provided a potent bat as of late.
In his last seven games, Kirk is hitting .429, going 12-for-28 with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and a 1.229 OPS. He’s also drawn a couple of hit-by-pitches, combining to a .515 on-base percentage.
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That kind of production has made Kirk too valuable to pull from the lineup entirely, even as the Blue Jays want to keep him fresh. He will be taking the designated hitter spot in Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, stepping away from catching duties for the night while Brandon Valenzuela takes over behind the plate for Max Scherzer at Tropicana Field.
Kirk is still working back to a full workload after missing months earlier this season with a dislocated and fractured thumb that required surgery, and Toronto has put Kirk in the DH spot to keep his bat in the lineup now and then and to keep Kirk from catching every night.
As there are fewer and fewer games for the Blue Jays to win to climb back into the postseason, the Blue Jays will have to keep making moves like tonight’s to give themselves the best chances of playing in October.
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