Alejandro Kirk’s improved bat speed paying off
TORONTO – Physics is at the heart of baseball.
Take a 96.9 m.p.h. fastball from Ryan Pepiot, add Alejandro Kirk’s bat moving at 75.1 m.p.h., and it equals a 407-foot three-run homer to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. Kirk has never been swinging the bat faster and the Blue Jays catcher said he knew what he was looking for from Pepiot.
“I was on time on the fastball, I was looking for that fastball,” said Kirk through translator Hector Lebron. “He has a good fastball. He throws that fastball regardless of the count.
“I just wanted to make sure that I was on time for that fastball, and he put that fastball right down the middle.”
Kirk’s average bat speed this season is up to 71.9 m.p.h., the highest its been since MLB’s Baseball Savant website began tracking the metric. Kirk’s batting average improved to. 293 with two hits on Wednesday, eight points better than his average in 2022 when he made his only all-star game appearance. He has three homers and 16 runs batted in so far this year.
It’s a stark improvement to last year when Kirk hit .253, with just five home runs and 54 RBIs. His average bat speed in 2023 and 2024 was 70.1 m.p.h.
“That’s kind of the best version of Kirk when, I think, he’s really good, he’s controlling the zone, and he’s doing a good job of that,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “He’s taking really intentful swings, he’s hitting the ball harder than he ever has, and his bat speed and things like that that you could measure.
“I think him being aware of that is pretty important too.”
Wednesday was Kirk’s first game back in the Blue Jays lineup since Sunday when he left Toronto’s 9-1 win in the third inning. Kirk was behind the plate when Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez’s backswing caught him on top of his catcher’s helmet. The 26-year-old Kirk was removed from that game as a precaution in case he was concussed by the blow.
“When you get hit on the head like that, you want to make sure that you that are OK,” said Kirk. “On the Sunday was good, the day off was good, and I did all my activities yesterday. Everything was normal.
“The doctor, give me the green light and I’m feeling good right now.”
BASSITT’S RULE CHANGE — Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt was sickened when he saw Kirk take the bat off his helmet and had a radical suggestion after Wednesday’s game to prevent more accidents like that.
“I’m pretty adamant when I say it probably should be a rule change where, if the hitter does that to a catcher, I think it should automatically be an out,” said Bassitt. “(Hitters are) quickly gonna change a swing.
“I mean, a bat is a weapon, you can’t be out of control. If you’re out of control, you’re out. Fix it. You can’t have guys get hit in the head.”
Bassitt said he wasn’t singling Rodriguez out, but that it’s a regular occurrence across Major League Baseball, especially with hitters that have a one-handed follow through.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
globalnews
