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Alejandro Kirk Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk has received a positive health update as he hopes to return soon from a thumb injury.

Kirk has been out of the Blue Jays’ lineup since April 3, when he fractured the thumb on his catching hand in a game against the Chicago White Sox. Given how important a player he is to Toronto, the team has desperately missed his bat, glove, and leadership, as they continue to flounder in the American League standings.

The good news is that Kirk is on the mend, and the Blue Jays may get him back in their lineup soon.

Blue Jays Need Alejandro Kirk Back

Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke to reporters ahead of Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers and provided a positive health update on the All-Star catcher. According to the skipper, Kirk is ramping up his catching, and he is also throwing and hitting now, inferring that a return to the Blue Jays’ lineup isn’t too long away.

“Alejandro Kirk’s thumb is responding well as he ramps up catching per John Schneider. Kirk also throwing and hitting,” Schneider told reporters (via Ben Nicholson-Smith).

All of this is good news as the Blue Jays look to get their star catcher back on the roster. The team has been able to get by for the past six weeks without him, but the team features a much more dangerous lineup Kirk in it, and defensively are much stronger with him behind the plate.

The Jays Are Struggling

The Blue Jays desperately need Kirk’s bat back in their lineup right now, as the squad is really struggling at the moment.

Last season, the Jays were one of baseball’s elite teams as they made it all the way to Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, ultimately losing heartbreakingly to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year, however, the Jays don’t look even close to the same team as they did last season. Through the first 44 games of the season, the Blue Jays are 19-25 and are sitting second-last in the AL East, just one game ahead of the equally disappointing Boston Red Sox.

Almost everyone on the team is struggling right now, including first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has only two home runs in 44 games into the season. The Blue Jays really need Kirk back in the lineup because he is a clutch bat who works well as a cleanup hitter in their lineup. He is one of the best catchers in baseball, and he would make any lineup, including the Blue Jays, much stronger as he handles the bat well and also provides some pop now and then.

In addition to Kirk’s bat, he is also an elite catcher defensively, and he provides incredible leadership both on the bench and with the entire pitching staff. Although rookie Brandon Valenzuela has done a bang-up job with Kirk out, the team would be better off with Kirk returning to the lineup, and the Jays are hoping that this positive health update comes soon.