Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk knows a portion of his success should go to his nutritionist

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This article was published 01/05/2021 (1656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alejandro Kirk was visualizing what it would be like to travel as a major-league player long before he broke camp with the Blue Jays for the first time this spring.

Fantasizing about big-league travel may not be high on others prospects’ lists. But Kirk had a purpose last fall as he flew from Tijuana, Mexico, to Mexico City, a direct flight of almost four hours. He and Jays nutrition co-ordinator Jeremy Chiang treated the journey as if Kirk was on a major-league travel day.

The two accounted for the timing of Kirk’s meals, for how he would stay hydrated during a dehydrating flight, for when he would be able to get to bed and for any bumps along the way. It was part of Chiang’s off-season mission to help Kirk improve his conditioning through nutrition.

“The ultimate goal, I told Kirk, is let’s go through this journey together, hopefully you can be your own coach on this,” Chiang said.

Chiang spent three weeks in Tijuana last fall to help with Kirk’s physical transformation. The 22-year-old catcher turned up at spring training in February looking noticeably trimmer, and moving better and quicker than he had when he made his big-league debut last September.

“I’m not exactly sure how much weight I lost — I know I lost a lot — but the bottom line is I feel great right now, a lot better than last year,” Kirk said in the spring.

Kirk’s understanding of the benefits of nutrition was limited when he and Chiang started working together but he was open to the concept. He chose spending time working on his nutrition and diet over playing winter ball in the off-season.

“I never did any diets, I didn’t know much about nutrition and so (Chiang) was the one that taught me how to keep a good diet, keep me hydrated, vitamins, basically telling me the way I should be eating every day,” said Kirk, who was forced out of Saturday’s game against Atlanta with left hip flexor discomfort. “He’s been doing an excellent job on teaching me that.”

Education is important to Chiang, and to the organization more broadly. “It’s not about babysitting,” general manager Ross Atkins said earlier this year. “Babysitting doesn’t work, telling people what to eat, what not to eat, when to work out, doesn’t work. It’s an understanding.”

So Chiang, who is from Taiwan and speaks limited Spanish, headed down to Mexico to work with Kirk, armed with a translator in the scout who helped sign Kirk.

Chiang’s tactic at the beginning was simple: monkey see, monkey do. He ate what Kirk ate. He learned about Kirk’s family, who the catcher lives with in the off-season, and their lifestyle. He assessed the environment to see what resources were available to Kirk and the private chefs he brought in. He co-ordinated with Kirk’s mother and his local trainer in Tijuana and Toronto’s high performance and player development staff back in the U.S.

Chiang had to learn how Kirk’s brain worked, how the catcher himself learned, in order to make lasting change, a tenet that is used throughout the Jays’ high performance department. It was only then that Chiang began making recommendations about moderation and balance, about when and what Kirk was eating.

“He didn’t need any big drastic change, he just needed a fine tune here and there,” Chiang said.

The one thing Chiang knew he couldn’t do was take away delicious food, focusing on reducing portion size instead. “No one really just likes grilled chicken and brown rice all the time, broccoli,” Chiang said. “Kirk hates broccoli, by the way.”

That approach helped Kirk stay committed. “He let me eat the food that I like … and that keeps me motivated,” Kirk said.

After Chiang left Mexico, the pair were in contact “basically every day,” Kirk said. Chiang gave Kirk Sundays off to indulge in a cheat meal.

“If I was in Tijuana, (it was) definitely tacos,” Kirk said. “I love tacos, especially back home … I love those days. I can’t wait for him to tell me, ‘OK, this is your cheat day.’ ”

Gradually, Chiang said, Kirk no longer needed to send him pictures to check portion sizes or to touch base daily. He has taken ownership of his nutrition. A “beautiful” moment for Chiang this spring training was when he caught Kirk teaching other players tips about hydration.

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“I said, ‘You’re always very shy, quiet, you don’t talk much but actually you listen,” Chiang said. “He was like, ‘Of course. ’”

Kirk’s success — the young catcher had a four-game hitting streak heading into Saturday, including a two-homer game Friday, and was cutting into Danny Jansen’s playing time — has other players buying into nutrition, too, Chiang said.

The pair still speak at the beginning and end of each series to discuss Kirk’s consistency in five categories: sleep, supplements, fasting, hydration and recovery.

The Jays now have dietitians at each minor-league affiliate. Kirk said he wishes he would have listened more about nutrition earlier.

“It’s a huge, huge, huge change in my life and in my career,” Kirk said. “Physically, mentally I feel great right now and I’m just going to keep going with this … because I know anything (Chiang) is going to tell me is for my own benefit.”