Blue Jays Announce Alejandro Kirk Update on Wednesday

Fortunately, Kirk has made significant progress since then. The 27-year-old Mexican backstop resumed baseball activities in May and started a rehab assignment one week ago on June 3.

His rehab assignment was expected to be longer than usual given how much time he spent on the shelf, and the Blue Jays have been careful with his return as a result.

On Tuesday, manager John Schneider revealed that Kirk would play designated hitter Wednesday and catch Thursday before being reevaluated to see if he could return for Friday's series opener against the division rival New York Yankees.

However, Schneider announced an update on Wednesday, revealing that Kirk would catch both days. He still would not confirm Friday as a return date. "We'll kind of play it by ear," Schneider said (h/t Thomas Hall of Blue Jays Nation).

It is hard not to take back-to-back catching days as a positive sign. Whether Kirk returns Friday or a little bit later, it will be a major addition.

He is one of the best framers in baseball, routinely stealing strikes for the pitching staff, and at the plate he has been one of the better hitters at his position too. Last year across 130 games, Kirk posted a .282 batting average, .348 on-base percentage, .769 OPS, 15 home runs and 76 RBIs.

With the Blue Jays looking to stack wins and climb back in the AL East standings, getting Kirk back healthy and behind the plate would go a long way toward making that happen.