Prior to playing professionally, he attended Columbia High School in Lake City, Florida. He was drafted by the Rangers in the fifth round of the 2005 amateur draft and began his professional career that year.\n', '

With the AZL Rangers in 2005, Kirkman went 3–1 with a 3.44 ERA in 14 games (nine starts), striking out 58 batters in 52​1⁄3 innings. He split 2006 between the AZL Rangers (eight games) and Clinton LumberKings (six games), going a combined 1–5 with a 9.70 ERA in 14 games (10 starts). He walked 51 batters in 34​1⁄3 innings while striking out 30. Despite posting an ERA near ten, he did not allow a single home run in 2006.\n', '

Kirkman pitched for the LumberKings (five games) and Spokane Indians (nine games) in 2007, going a combined 1–5 with a 7.14 ERA in 14 games (eight starts). He pitched for Spokane and Clinton again in 2008, improving to a combined record of 5–4 with an ERA of 3.84 in 17 games (16 starts).\n', '

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