AL WILD CARD SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2022

Alejandro Kirk

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

Q. As a catcher on a Major League team, now you have a lot of information coming your way. What are you most pleased about with your growth as a catcher this year?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: I have to say calling the games. That's where I get the most experience this year. I learn a lot using all the information. I think I got a lot better calling the games.

Q. You and Alek have a terrific relationship. Who leads the discussion when you are trying to set up a game plan? Do you have an input, Alek have an input, and then you decide what's best for the game plan?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: It all depends. The decision, it's between both of us. It all depends on the hitter. It depends how the game dictates the plan. If we had to make some adjustments during the game, we will.

Basically we're both on the same page all the time, so we have that great relationship that we can make the decision between us.

Q. Alejandro, was the first time you caught Alek at the off site 2020, and how quickly did the relationship, the bond, grow strong between you two?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: Like you guys know, it takes time. It doesn't happen overnight, having that relationship with a pitcher like Alek. But, thank God, every time we're out there we learn from each other and our relationship right now. I think it's great.

Q. Was it the off site in -- where was it, Rochester? In Rochester. Is that the first time that Alejandro caught Alek in 2020?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: Rochester.

Q. How much do you remember Alek's start in Seattle where he took a shut-out into the seventh inning and was pitching really well, gave up the home run to Carlos Santana? What do you take from that, if anything, about going into tomorrow?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: To be honest with you, I don't remember much about that game, but, of course, I have to go back and watch all the videos.

It's the postseason. Anything can happen, and we all have to make adjustments. I've got to go back, like I say. I've got to go back and look at the videos.

If we make mistakes on that game, then, of course, we've got to try to fix it and try to execute it tomorrow.

Q. Taking you even farther back in the season to April, Danny Jansen gets hurt three games in, and you played basically every day. You caught basically every day for two weeks. How much did that help what would go on the rest of the season for you?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: Yeah, definitely getting experience. All those games helped me on that. The relationship with the pitcher and all the pitching staff, it grew. Yeah, the key of catching those games pretty much every day, like you say, it was just getting experience. It helped me out a lot.

Q. Your team has been swinging the bat really well lately. What makes this lineup tough to face for another team in the postseason?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: Like I said before, it's not going to be easy. We have a great lineup. We have a deep lineup, experience in the lineup. Young hitters with a lot of talent in the lineup. I think we're going to be ready, and we'll see, but it's going to be good. It's going to be interesting.

Q. The last time you guys were in the postseason, you had just arrived in the Major Leagues, and I'm sure things were happening very fast for you. What do you remember about that last experience, and how much more prepared are you now than you were back then?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: I mean, that was too fast. Back in 2020, as you know, it was just two games, but I say that I learned how to have fun and at the same time go out there and compete. So, that's what I'm going to do starting tomorrow. Just go out there, work hard, compete, and just have fun.

Q. Manoah got here basically as fast as you did. What is it about his skill set or what is it about his repertoire that's kind of allowed him to make this quick transition as well and handle the workload that goes with it?

ALEJANDRO KIRK: I have to say you don't see that in many pitchers, the way he attacks the hitters, the way he pitches, the way he, of course, locates everything. He is fearless out there. Yeah, the way he attacks the hitters, he is just different.