At a tryout, Toronto Blue Jays scout Dean Decillis was in attendance to watch another player, when Alejandro Kirk instead caught his eye.
The Blue Jays subsequently signed the teenager Kirk as an international free agent in 2016, paying $22,500 to his Mexican League club, Toros de Tijuana, of which Kirk received $7,500.
Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Kirk began playing baseball when he was 3 years old. He then became a catcher at age 12, following in the footsteps of his older brother.
In the fall of 2016, he was signed as an international free agent.
Listed at 5-foot-9, 265-pounds, Kirk missed most of the following 2017 season due to a hand injury that resulted from a car accident. He played the entire 2018 season with the Rookie Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays and recorded a .354 batting average with 10 home runs and 57 runs batted in (RBI) in 58 games.
At the plate, Kirk hit .316 and slashed .290/.403/.465 in 2019, which he split between Low-A and High-A.
His atypical development arc — jumping from High A in 2019 to the major leagues in 2020 — was in part caused by the cancellation of the minor-league season.
Kirk batted .242 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs in 60 games during the 2021 season.
On July 8, 2022, Kirk was named an All-Star for the first time in his career, along with teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his development has taken its biggest jump.