Danny Jansen career introspective

It’s been the best of times, the worst of times for Rays new catcher

The Rays recently signed Danny Jansen to be their primary catcher. Jansen has had some very bad years and some amazing good years. Here we are taking you on a walk through his career to help familiarize you with the newest Ray.

Way back when in the world before COVID19 and $800M contracts, Danny Jansen was among the top-100 prospects in all of baseball.

But, before even that, Jansen was 16th round selection in the 2013 draft; the Blue Jays lured him away from college with a $100K signing bonus. Jansen’s first steps to the big leagues took place in the short-season Rookie-Leagues where he spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons, hitting .265/.378/.387 with a 12.9 BB% & 9.4 K% over 286 PA, registering a 128 wRC+. All the while, his defense was a work in progress. Jansen’s 2014 performance garnered him notice from Baseball America, who ranked him 20th in the Blue Jays system entering the 2015 season.

He offers plus bat speed from the right side along with the physical strength and leverage in his swing to hit at least 15 home runs annually. His bat-to-ball ability and knowledge of the strike zone have produced more walks than strikeouts.

Unfortunately, Jansen has had a lot of injuries, many of the just plain unlucky variety. In 2015 he was struck on the left hand by a swing while attempting to receive a pitch, resulting in a broken bone and costing him much of the regular season.

In 2016 he suffered a broken hamate during a plate appearance. This injury resulted in Jansen missing another two months of the season. He still managed to make 217 plate appearances, but struggled, hitting .218/.313/.271 with 1 HR, registering a 78 wRC+. Jansen was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League and despite having not played above High-A, the Blue Jays added him to the 40-man roster.

In 2017, Jansen finally remained healthy for the full season and demonstrated exactly how good he could be. He tore through the minors, crushing pitching in A ball ( 184 wRC+) and in Double-A (121 wRC+) finishing the season at Triple-A. Overall, Jansen hit .323/.400/.484 with 10 HR along with a 9.4 K% & 9.7 BB% over 424 PA for a 150 wRC+. At the same time, his defensive skills experienced dramatic improvement.

The following season, Jansen proved his breakout was for real. He hit .275/.390/.473 over 360 plate appearances in Triple-A and was ranked as the 42nd best prospect in all of baseball with a spot on the Futures Game roster, where he homered.

He was rewarded with a promotion, and he debuted in the big leagues on August 13th, 2018.

It was a Monday night in Kansas City; Jansen slotted into the 9th spot of the order and set up behind the plate. His battery mate that day, Sean Reid-Foley, was also making his debut, and they made history as the first pitcher-catcher tandem to debut together in the American League since 1967.

Jansen received his first opportunity to hit in the top of the 2nd inning. After taking the first three pitches and settling into a hitter’s count of 2-1 against Royals’ starter Brad Keller. When Keller threw a breaking ball low and away, Jansen reached pulled the ball through a hole on the left side of the infield. Russell Martin had been on second at the time, he took off once Jansen made contact and raced towards home plate, but Alex Gordon quickly scooped the ball in the outfield made a one hop throw to Salvador Perez at home who quickly swiped Martin out at home; regardless, Danny Jansen had his first big league hit in his first big league at-bat.

“When I got in the box, I was just trying to breathe and put a barrel on the ball. That’s what happened, just found a hole. I couldn’t believe it at first as I was rounding first base.”

Jansen launched his first career homerun the following night, a go-ahead no-doubter off of Heath Fillmyer that landed several rows deep down the left field line.

Over the final weeks of the season, Jansen took over the Blue Jays everyday catching duties and performed well. Jansen appeared in 31 games and hit .247/.347/.432 with 3 HR over 95 PA and accrued 0.7 fWAR.

Jansen was ticketed to be the Blue Jays primary catcher in 2019 as they looked for his offensive first profile to more than make up for his less than stellar defense. However, the script flipped for Jansen as his offensive production dissipated but he was among the best defensive backstops in baseball. Jansen finished the season with 12 DRS, the 5th most in all of baseball for catchers, but he struggled at the plate, hitting .207/.279/.360 with 13 HR, posting a 69 wRC+. Regardless, his impressive defensive campaign led to him being an above average player with 1.8 fWAR over 107 games.

During the COVID afflicted 2020 season, Jansen remained the Blue Jays starting catcher, appearing in 43 of their 60 regular season games and catching both their Wild Card games. Although Jansen hit worse than he had a season previously, he got on base more and finished with a .183/.313/.358 statline and 84 wRC+.

In an otherwise down year, Jansen did enjoy the best offensive game of his career in 2020. On September 23rd, facing the Yankees in Toronto, Jansen went 4-4 with a double and two home runs; he was also hit by a pitch, so he reached base five times. Jansen was also one of the few Blue Jays to shows signs of life in the second Wild Card game; Rays fans may remember that he clobbered two homeruns (the Blue Jays only two runs of the game).

Jansen’s defense also regressed heavily as he posted -4 DRS, which was among the worst in baseball; although he was elite when it came to blocking pitches. With Alejandro Kirk and Reese McGuire knocking on the door, Jansen was at risk of losing his starting job.

It looked like more of the same from Jansen in 2021. From Opening Day through June 6th, Jansen was hitting .157/.248/.278 with a 43 wRC+. It was abysmal, and June IL stint almost seemed like a stroke of mercy.

During his rehab from the injury, Jansen decided to completely alter his approach. Jansen had always tried hit balls to the opposite field on the outside part of the plate. However, Jansen had the power to take these pitches and flip them into the seats in left field, so now he would focus on doing that.

“I really believe that I’ve turned over a new leaf — just mentally within myself. I really feel like I’ve freed myself up. I’ve had a lot of struggle. And I’ve tried to learn through that struggle. I try to make as much as I can from it. Honestly, it’s just taken me a while to learn who I am as a hitter. And to stop trying to be somebody I’m not. Just having a strong approach, knowing who I am, believing in myself and my preparation — it’s helped me take a humongous step in the mental side of the game.”

He returned from the IL a new hitter. Overall from July 4th through the end of the season, Jansen hit .316/.373/.750 with 8 HR over 83 plate appearances, registering a 194 wRC+ and accruing 1.5 fWAR over 28 games.

Thanks to his resurgence, Jansen’s career in Toronto looked bright. Unfortunately, in just the third game of the 2022 season, Jansen strained his oblique.

“It’s all mental, man. That’s what they say about baseball, right? Especially hitting. So, sure, I’ve had a lot of struggles. But, who knows, maybe I wouldn’t be where I am mentally now if not for it. So, I’ll take this adversity head on. And come out of it better.”

Jansen was activated in mid-May and homered in his first game back. The power was still there, but Jansen’s on-base skills weren’t as he hit .184/.241/.490 over 54 plate appearances through June 6th. Jansen left a game on that date after being hit by a pitch that resulted in a fractured pinky finger, leading to another visit to the IL. He then went on a torrid stretch over the final 2.5 months of the 2022 campaign as he hit .270/.355/.478 with 8 HR, registering a 136 wRC+ over 186 plate appearances; overall he accrued 2.7 fWAR over just 72 games played.

Jansen managed to stay off the injury list at the onset of the 2023 season, but did endure a horrific slump for the first three weeks of the season. He snapped out of it on April 21st and proceeded to hit .244/.293/.535 over his next 92 trips to the plate before the injury bug reared its head once again — this time in the form of a groin strain.

It was a brief stint for Jansen as he returned on June 13th and again provided the Blue Jays with well above-average offensive production from behind the plate. From the date he was activated through September 1st, Jansen hit .245/.343/.524 with 11 HR over 169 PA, registering a 139 wRC+, at which point he once again found himself on the IL. During a game against the Colorado Rockies, a foul ball went directly into Jansen’s exposed right hand, fracturing a knuckle. This eventually led to surgery and the end of Jansen’s 2023 campaign. Overall during the season, he hit .228/.312/.474 with 17 HR over 301 plate appearances, registering a 115 wRC+ and accruing 1.9 fWAR over 94 games.

From the start of the 2021 season through Jansen’s last game in 2023, he hit .237/.317/.487 with 43 HR over 754 PA, registering a 121 wRC+ and accruing 6.1 fWAR over 228 games. For catchers with at least 700 PA during that time, Jansen had the 10th highest fWAR, 6th highest wRC+, 10th most HR, 11th highest OBP%, and had the highest SLG%, despite appearing in just 228 games, the 5th lowest of 37 catchers meeting the 700 plate appearance criteria.

From 2021 through the end of 2023, Jansen proved that, when healthy, he is among the best catchers in all of baseball.

Knowing this, the Blue Jays decided to stick with Jansen for his third and final year of arbitration entering the 2024 season, hoping that Jansen would be able to stay healthy and showcase his full offensive talent over a full season.

Oops.

During spring training, Jansen was hit in the hand while trying to check his swing. He broke a small bone in his hand and started the year on the IL. 2024 was an up and down offensive year for the catcher, and on July 27th, the Blue Jays traded Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox for three minor leaguers. Jansen had been the longest tenured member of the Blue Jays and now his time with Toronto was over. His time with the Red Sox was forgettable; he played in 31 games and was worth just -0.7 fWAR.

Jansen did manage to make some history though.

On June 26th, the Blue Jays and Red Sox played in a game that would be suspended due to rain. Jansen was actually in the batter’s box with an 0-1 count when the game was postponed.

Flash forward to August 26th, the game would be resumed at the exact place from when it had been suspended. Only, Danny Jansen was no longer on the Blue Jays, he would be behind the plate for the Red Sox.

Dalton Varsho took Jansen’s spot in the lineup and went up to hit with the 0-1 count (he struck out), while Jansen received the pitches. Jansen would hit in the bottom half of the frame and line out to first base. He would officially become the first player in MLB history to play for both teams in a single game.

Following the season, Jansen became a free agent for the first time in his career.

Despite his lackluster season and abysmal injury history, there were plenty of suitors for the veteran catcher who’d be turning 30-years old in April. According to reports, there were several teams offering multi-year deals to Jansen, but on December 6th, Jansen and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a one-year deal with a mutual option for a second.

Jansen has been good enough (when healthy!) over the course of his career that we can have some cause for optimism that he’ll help address the Rays chronic catching problems, but inconsistent enough that he’s willing to sign a contract within the Rays budget. Best case scenario he is 2025’s Travis d’Arnaud and plays so well that the Rays can’t afford him in 2026.