Catcher Alejandro Kirk the busiest man at Toronto Blue Jays spring training camp

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DUNEDIN — Alejandro Kirk is the busiest man at Toronto Blue Jays spring training.

The team’s starting catcher is getting to know the repertoires of newly acquired pitchers Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, working on his own hitting and familiarizing himself with all the new tweaks to major league baseball’s rules.

And Kirk has to do it all before March 1, when he’s scheduled to join Mexico for the World Baseball Classic.

“A lot of reps, obviously a lot of communication, especially in the games,” said Kirk through team translator Hector Lebron. “Trying to talk to the new pitchers.

“But definitely I’ll try to do a lot of reps with them, a lot of talking, a lot of communication before I head to the WBC.”

Kirk was seemingly everywhere at once at the Blue Jays Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday.

• IN PICTURES: Blue Jays’ spring training in Dunedin, Florida

He worked in the bullpen with Cease and Ponce before heading over to a nearby field where he took live batting practice against Jose Berrios, at one point hitting a sharp comebacker to the mound that made his teammates gasp.

Kirk also had meetings, chatted with teammates in the clubhouse, and was interviewed by media.

Toronto’s season ended with its Game 7 loss in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kirk said he only took a month off before getting back to work.

“It’s a long season, but the best thing I did was to come down here in December to prepare for spring,” said Kirk, outside the major league clubhouse of the spring training facility. “We had a good plan back in December, and then went back to Tijuana.

“I did everything then to prepare myself for now, and I’m feeling great right now, physically.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Kirk is scheduled to play in four or five exhibition games before leaving camp to join Mexico. Kirk’s focus will be to catch Cease and Ponce, even if it means taking road trips in the Grapefruit League.

“Catching their sides, catching their lives, I think, is beneficial for him,” said Schneider, adding Kirk didn’t catch during Berrios’s live batting practice because they already know each other so well. “We’re going to try to do as much as we can.

“He’s got to do some homework on these guys too and have conversations with him.”

Kirk, a two-time all-star entering his seventh major-league season, said he has plenty of questions for any new pitcher he’s going to be catching.

“I would like to know what they know about their tendencies, what they like to do, and of course, then we go about our game planning with each hitter,” said Kirk. “I like to know the way they like to work, what they like, what they don’t like, and that way, I make sure that we are on the same page.”

MORE FROM DUNEDIN:

• Loperfido grateful for Blue Jays stint after trade sends him back to Houston
• Berrios apologies to teammates, fans for absence during Blue Jays’ post-season run
• Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber trying to stay patient as his season is delayed

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press