DUNEDIN, Fla. — Isiah Kiner-Falefa knows what it feels like to be thrown in the fire at the major league level.
The natural infielder had accrued just 69 minor-league games behind the plate by 2018, yet in June of that season, the Texas Rangers were in a pinch and decided to deploy him as their catcher.
Here was a rookie who didn’t even own a catcher’s mitt two years prior to being tasked with receiving for established veterans such as Bartolo Colon and Yovani Gallardo.
“I didn’t really have the confidence,” says Kiner-Falefa. “I didn’t have the experience. I didn’t really have anything. I was just thrown into the fire in the big leagues.”
It ended up as a teachable lesson, though, showing Kiner-Falefa, who signed with the Blue Jays this past off-season, that he could handle anything thrown at him. He realized he possessed the ability — and mental fortitude — to adapt on the fly.
This time last year, Kiner-Falefa was put to the test again. He had been locked in a spring training battle with Anthony Volpe for the starting shortstop job on the New York Yankees but as camp wore on and he began to lose ground to the rookie, the Yankees decided to try Kiner-Falefa in the outfield. Never mind that he had played just 10 career games there in the minors.
“I made my first outfield start at centre field in Yankee Stadium after maybe playing two games there all spring,” says Kiner-Falefa.
He took it in complete stride, however, because he had once before embraced the unknown and came out better for it.
“The catching experience alone just propelled me and helped me a lot last year,” he says.
Kiner-Falefa, who’s entering his seventh MLB season, has developed a reputation as a glove-first player with a nearly unmatched level of versatility. He’s manned every position in the majors except for first base — a strength that attracted the Blue Jays, who inked Kiner-Falefa to a two-year, $15-million deal in late December.
“[When] I think of IKF, I think of just a gamer — [a]baseball player,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider on Saturday. “And I just love his versatility. I love every little thing that he [does]. Every little detail of the game he doesn’t miss. That’s the thing that stands out to me, whether it’s noticing a player’s secondary lead or where someone is in the outfield. He’s got every box checked.”
Kiner-Falefa is expected to at least begin the season getting a chunk of time at third base, where he netted a Gold Glove during the 2020 campaign. He’ll replace Matt Chapman — who joined the San Francisco Giants as a free agent — there and says the comfort of knowing where he’ll be stationed, for the most part, has been nice for him as he’s worked through spring training.
“I still don’t really know my clear role, but I know it’s going to be a lot of third. But, at the same time, other things happen. I could be the guy moving around,” says Kiner-Falefa, who turned 29 on Saturday.
“But just getting the reps wherever need be during that full month [of spring training]is a lot different than having to just throw it together in a week. So, it’s very refreshing and I feel good.”
Kiner-Falefa, a Honolulu, Hawaii, native, is an easy-going, approachable veteran with a pleasant demeanour that made him a media favourite in New York. He joined the Yankees in the March 2022 deal with Minnesota that also brought Josh Donaldson to the club. Kiner-Falefa hit .253/.311/.333 over his two seasons with the Yankees, producing a combined 1.7 fWAR.
While his time there included him losing his shortstop job, Kiner-Falefa says he was able to take away a great deal playing under the spotlight with the Yankees.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” he says. “But, it just made me tougher —my whole experience in New York. The first year to the second year and how I bounced back. It was a tough transition at first, but it ended up being very beneficial for my career as in just being able to cancel the noise and stay true to who I am and not worry about the outside.”
Kiner-Falefa’s level of comfort this spring has been evident, with Schneider highlighting Kiner-Falefa’s sneaky-good offensive performance during Grapefruit League play. He owns a .958 OPS across 17 games and clubbed his first home run — a 412-foot bomb — on Friday.
“I think his at-bats have been quietly really good,” said the manager. “He’s had a great camp … just excited how he fits on our team.”
Kiner-Falefa says one of his goals for the season is to simply offer consistency on both offence and defence — wherever that is.
“I’m ready for everything,” he said. “The experience of being thrown in the fire gives me the confidence of just being ready for whatever.”
