Jonathan Aranda joins pal Alejandro Kirk in exclusive World Series club
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Sinhue Mendoza, Contributor
- October 24, 2026
Rays star Jonathan Aranda reaches base four times in Game 1
MILWAUKEE – On the eve of the 2026 World Series, Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Jonathan Aranda fielded one question consistently from the national and international media. Then he was peppered again with the same theme before Game 1 on Friday. By far the question he got the most was about his childhood friend and former youth teammate Alejandro Kirk, the Toronto Blue Jays’ All-Star catcher.
Aranda and Kirk grew up together in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border from San Diego, Calif. They were youth baseball teammates, and they often slept at each other’s homes as kids. During those sleepovers they dreamed of reaching the majors.
In 2025, they were MLB All-Stars together in Atlanta. Then Aranda cheered for Kirk and the Blue Jays after they reached the 2025 World Series. They were key parts of Team Mexico in March for the World Baseball Classic.
Kirk made his way down to St. Petersburg, Fla., to support his amigo during Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, watching his lifelong friend earn his first World Series berth just a year after he did.
Tijuana duo
“It feels really good and great to have his support and have each other’s back,” Aranda said of Kirk. “We’ve discussed playing in the postseason, and his biggest advice has been to relax and enjoy the moment.”
In one of the most poetic facts of Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night at American Family Field, Aranda again put his name alongside Kirk’s. Aranda went 3-for-3, reaching base four times against the Milwaukee Brewers, who held on for a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 43,250.
With that performance, Aranda joined Kirk as the only natives of Mexico to collect three hits in a World Series game. Kirk accomplished that feat in Game 1 of the last Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Moreover, with his three singles and walk, Aranda joined Kirk as the only natives of Mexico to reach base safely four times in a Fall Classic game. Kirk reached base four times in Games 1 and 3 of the 2025 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kirk had three hits and a walk in Game 1. Then he had two hits and two walks in Game 3.
While scoring the Rays’ first run of the night, Aranda became just the fourth native of Mexico to score a run in the World Series. Aranda also joined Randy Arozarena (2020) and Akinori Iwamura (2008) as the only players in Rays history to collect three hits in a World Series game.
“Obviously the stakes are high,” Aranda said. “We know that we’re playing in the World Series, but Alejandro just recommended for me to just be myself, enjoy the game, be in the moment because, at the end of the day, we’re still playing a game of baseball.”
‘Grateful and excited’
Jonathan Aranda had a busy evening at World Series media day in Milwaukee. Cameras and phones crowded over the player whose story of resilience has made it hard not to want to see him and his Rays succeed and bring the franchise its first title. When asked his feelings on being one night away from playing in his first World Series, he was cool as the breeze off the Pacific Ocean in his native Baja California.
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“I’m grateful and excited more than anything,” he said. “It’s exciting and it’s been a journey, but I’m focused. We must take it one day at a time. Just go into it like it’s our next ball game.”
It’s been quite the journey to the Fall Classic for the first baseman. One that involves fellow Mexican national team teammate and Rays fan favorite Randy Arozarena. Back in 2015 the team’s international scouting director Carlos Rodriguez went down to Tijuana to see Arozarena, a native of Cuba who had settled in Mexico.
Arozarena, who eventually signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, was training in Tijuana. While the Rays didn’t have the budget needed to spend on a player like Arozarena, they went down to try.
Growing up with Rays
The Rays scout never saw Arozarena, but they did see their future first baseman. Then 11 years later, Jonathan Aranda, 28, is the longest tenured Ray on the World Series roster. He worked his way to being part of the pennant-winning Rays club that is four games away from bringing the Tampa Bay area its first World Series pennant.
“It’s something that is very special to me,” he said. “I have lived a lot of my life with the Rays organization. I know a lot of the people here, and they have helped me grow not only as a player but as a human. We’ve lived through so much together, so it’s very special to be able to do this together.”
Mexican-born and Mexican American ballplayers like the Brewers Joey Ortiz, JoJo Romero and Jonathan Ornelas are becoming more common in the majors. Aranda stands out, though, as a Tijuanense who is a childhood friend of Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk. He also works out with fellow Tijuanense Javy Assad of the Chicago Cubs in the offseason.
“My respect for all those who have come before me,” Aranda said. “And I feel very happy and proud to now be in that special group of Mexican ballplayers.”
Sinhue Mendoza
Contributor
Sports business columnist Sinhue Mendoza is a publicist based in Chicago. He has more than 16 years in sports business, working media relations, social media, marketing and broadcasting. Mendoza, a proud son of Mexican immigrants, has worked professionally with some of the biggest brands in American sports, including the Chicago Cubs, U.S. Soccer, Notre Dame Football, and Major League Baseball.
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