Blue Jays’ Catching Depth Proving Crucial in Recent Success
After enduring a slow start to the 2022 season, the Toronto Blue Jays have started to heat up recently as they strung together an eight-game winning streak, and you don’t have to search very hard to see what’s changed.
There’s plenty of credit to go around, especially for the club’s reliable pitching and defense. It’s been tremendous all season long. But the biggest difference that’s occurred revolves around the offense, the bats are beginning to awake.
Unlike earlier this season, the Blue Jays have been scoring in bunches lately as they’ve averaged seven runs per game during their win streak.
The team is finally starting to perform like one of the top offenses in baseball. It may have taken them longer than expected, but the batting order is now living up to the lofty preseason expectations.
While we’ve seen two-time Silver Slugger Teoscar Hernandez begin to turn things around, his performance is only one piece of the story. There have been several other productive contributors during this current stretch – including catchers Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen.
Neither player receives the level of attention that George Springer, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez do. And understandably so. But that duo has played a major role in Toronto’s success in 2022.
The combination of Kirk and Jansen has meshed extremely well together thus far. As a result, they’ve quickly emerged as one of the top offensive catching duos in the majors.
Across the first two months of this season, Toronto catchers sit tied for the most home runs (13), feature the best AVG (.270), the second-highest wRC+ score (133) and offensive WAR rating (9.5), along with the third-highest SLG (.477) and OBP (.341), according to FanGraphs.com.
Not to mention, they also possess the third-highest fWAR rating (2.2) in this regard, as well. It’s difficult to fathom where this franchise would be positioned without receiving this type of production from its backstops.
Kirk, who’s enjoying just his second full big-league season, has been spectacular early on during his age-23 campaign. Despite starting slow offensively, he’s since put those struggles behind him over the last month or so.
The 5’8” catcher has recorded 91 plate appearances since May 1, posting 11 extra-base hits – including three home runs – 11 RBIs, a .213 ISO, a .343 BABIP, a 174 wRC+ score and a stellar .338/.407/.550 slash line.
Toronto’s promising young backstop is also walking more than he’s striking out. In total, he’s registered 10 walks compared to just eight punch-outs during this timeframe.
Adding to his value, which stands at a 1.3 fWAR rating, Kirk has also taken major strides to improve his defense in ‘22. One of the major reasons he’s produced a career-best 3.3 defensive WAR rating can be attributed to the positive steps he’s made involving his pitch framing.
He was already considered above-average in this department heading into the campaign. But now, the right-hander has refined his skills even further, positioning him near the top of the majors with regards to stealing strikes.
This season, along with leading all Blue Jays backstops in catcher framing runs (two) and overall strike rate (50 per cent), Kirk also ranks tied for third and seventh respectively in the majors.
As someone that rose through the minors because of his offense, it’s his defense that has now become a vital aspect of his game. Don’t forget, he’s still yet to log more than 616.2 career innings behind the plate. His growth is far from finished.
Then there’s Jansen, who’s been limited to just 50 plate appearances across 16 games due to an oblique injury. The 27-year-old landed on the IL following Opening Weekend and didn’t return until May 14.
In saying that, when healthy, the 6’2” catcher has been extremely productive this season, particularly from an offensive standpoint. His seven home runs are tied for third-most in the majors, and he’s the fastest catcher to reach that mark in franchise history.
Expanding on his results, Jansen enters Friday’s series against the Minnesota Twins carrying a .478 ISO, .464 wOBA, 210 wRC+ score and a .283/.340/.761 slash line. All of which are career-highs.
This isn’t just a hot streak, either. Or at least, it doesn’t appear to be as he’s generating more barrels and hard contact than he’s ever done previously.
So far, Jansen has recorded career-highs involving his barrel rate (26.3 per cent) and hard-hit rate (47.4 per cent). This has allowed him to create a .316 xAVG and a .842 xSLG, suggesting he’s been unlucky at times.
Granted, his pitch framing isn’t nearly as effective as Kirk’s, however, the five-year MLB veteran has a slight edge when it comes to pitch sequencing. Considering he serves as the primary catcher for control-reliant starters like Kevin Gausman, Hyun Jin Ryu and Yusei Kikuchi, that’s certainly played a factor.
The Blue Jays feature one of the best catching duos at the major-league level, and that position could become even stronger later in the season. Down on the farm lies highly-regarded prospect Gabriel Moreno, who’s widely considered the catcher of the future.
He’s already off to a fairly decent start at triple-A Buffalo. In 32 games with the Bisons, the 22-year-old is hitting .328/.383/.418 with one home run and 22 RBIs through 133 plate appearances.
Moreno’s defense is also highly regarded by the Blue Jays and carries a 55 grade by MLB.com. His pitch calling and receiving have each been on display numerous times throughout this season.
It likely won’t be long before Moreno begins knocking at the door of the majors. He isn’t far off from that point as of now. Carrying three catchers in the big leagues isn’t ideal, but once September rolls around, it wouldn’t be shocking to have Moreno promoted to the Blue Jays.
Until that happens, though, Toronto’s catching depth is well-positioned to continue providing substantial value, both offensively and defensively. There aren’t many other franchises that can say the same.
But, when Moreno does eventually arrive, manager Charlie Montoyo and his staff will face a dilemma, albeit, a positive one, while dividing up playing time between Kirk, Jansen and Moreno.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: David B. King. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.