Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen has been diagnosed with a fracture of the pisiform bone in his right wrist, manager John Schneider revealed to reporters today (X links via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). He was hit by a pitch during the Jays’ Grapefruit League game earlier this week. The team currently expects him to miss a “couple weeks,” though he has a follow-up appointment today that could reveal more information.
That could point to a season-opening stint on the injured list, though the team has yet to specifically state as much. Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae tweets that the Jays will likely lean on non-roster catchers Payton Henry and Brian Serven to back up starting catcher Alejandro Kirk in the interim. If Jansen indeed opens the season on the injured list, Toronto will need to clear a 40-man roster spot to select the contract of either player.
It’s not an ideal start in what’ll be Jansen’s walk year before free agency. The soon-to-be 29-year-old backstop has been a steadily above-average offensive contributor — particularly relative to his position — over the past three seasons but routinely been hit with injuries along the way.
Since 2021, Jansen carries a stout .237/.317/.487 batting line with 43 home runs in 754 trips to the plate. He’s walked at a respectable 8.6% clip along the way, and his 19.9% strikeout rate is a few ticks lower than the league average. By measure of wRC+, Jansen’s been 21% better than an average hitter over the past three seasons. Considering the average catcher has been about 11-12% worse than average at the plate, Jansen’s contributions with the bat are all the more impressive.
From a defensive standpoint, Jansen is solid. He typically draws average or slightly better marks for his pitch framing at both FanGraphs and Statcast. He’s been a bit below average in terms of controlling the running game (career 22% caught-stealing rate), but Statcast rates Jansen (and Kirk, for that matter) as one of the game’s best at blocking balls in the dirt.
Both Henry and Serven joined the Jays organization in the offseason. The former inked a minor league deal after spending his career to date with the Brewers and Marlins. He hit .294/.341/.454 in 255 Triple-A games last season with the Brewers. He’s yet to make his MLB debut. Serven was a waiver claim who’s played his entire career in the Rockies organization. He appeared in 62 games with the 2022 Rockies and another 11 games last year, batting a combined .195/.248/.314 in 228 trips to the plate. In 534 career Triple-A plate appearances, he’s a .238/.305/.450 hitter.
Injury prone. A really solid mlb catcher though.
Injury prone…yes, A solid MLB catcher…..No …he is a below average defender that should have been moved to a third string catcher/DH/bat of the bench to maximize his penchant for hitting in those spotlight moments where he seems to thrive. He does well as a pinch hitter too.
Jano is a stud who seems to get injured a lot by getting hit by the ball either batting or behind the plate. Not sure why you think if he just doesn’t play he’d both retain his value while also not getting injured. Freak injuries gonna happen if playing or not
Jansen is not a stud!!! He is a below average defender …Don’t listen to Rogers media and look it up.
Yes he does get hurt at both but limiting playing him behind the plate should at least, in theory, limit that part of the injury history. Maybe on the bench more gives him time to concentrate on what causes him to get hit so much while hitting.
He gets injured due to his batting stance being over the plate, where he positions his hands has been the cause of most of his injury. Do you actually watch this guy play?
“Jansen is not a stud..Look it up”…If you have to “look up” whether someone’s good means you don’t watch him play much(if at all) and probably shouldn’t be talking about him. The guys that have to “look up” Saber “stats for dummies” to comment on baseball players are certainly not any kind of “expert” I’d want to listen to.
I mean, even the stats say he’s been very good and productive relative to his position.
SHHH your ignorance is showing.
Dusty being productive at the plate and being a good defender are 2 different things. We were talking about his defense and he is average to below average in most defensive categories.
Finally someone that really sees what’s going on. I have been saying this forever he should have been extended long ago and now he is going to go free agency. It’s hard to come by a catcher this good with the bat and being average or better defensively. There was some talk of tweaking his batting stance but fear of him falling off. He should wear hand protection and the guy doesn’t even wear gloves
So you believe that looking at one aspect of a players is the right way to evaluate them?
The only ignorant thing in here is you and the idea that he is a third string catcher.
Since 2020, and despite injuries Danny is 10th in catcher WAR, in order for him to be ‘third string catcher’ you would need to show atleast 61 catchers who are more valuable than him.
Danny is very solid, no not a superstar but how many catchers can you say are actually elite? 4-5 max? he is at worst average defensively but his plus bat and game calling more than make up enough value to keep him as a starting catcher.
You seem to have a vendetta of some sort against him which is making you completely unreasonable, irrational and emotional about this subject. Which is weird because really just goes about his business quietly and has never done anything to be this hated.
But anyways, you’re clearly wrong but I don’t think you’re bright enough to know it or humble enough to admit it.
First that ignorance comment was a reply to mlbfan I did a separate reply to you. Why they lined up like that I don’t know.
Secondly we were discussing ONLY defense at the time NOT offense..
Thirdly I would be more impressed if you explained how WAR was derived. Anyway it is a stat derived in a vacuum that is mostly, if not fully (depending on which site you got it from) derived from offensive numbers and only use the position they played most as a addition or subtraction number to help “balance” that stat. IMO its a terrible stat to use to describe a players worth on defense.
Forth Danny is not a good game caller. He is average to below average in almost every defensive stat so he is a backup catcher maybe platoon.. His offense makes him more appealing and thus he would be better off as a DH/pinch hitter/third string catcher and MAYBE he might stay a bit healthier.
Fifth I do not have a vendetta against Jansen. To me he is what he is a below average defender that is a platoon catcher (at best) that has some pop and is often injured. Not my fault that Blue Jays fans (mostly due to Rogers Media hype) over rate him. There are a lot of catchers like Jansen – Carson Kelly, Gary Sanchez, Yasmani Grandaul but they are what they are.
If you think differently then spend some time looking at the numbers…if you just love Jansen then love him but I am not wrong. about what he is.
LOL
I’m not reading all that but to sum up your general point, you don’t believe in WAR but your argument is solely based around advanced defensive analytics?
So if the numbers work for you they are good but if not it’s just hooey.
Again in total value he is a top 10-15 catcher in the league. If your argument is that you’d rather have a really good defensive catcher, that completely ignore the fact that most really good defensive catchers can’t even hit to league average. (Outside the elite 4-5). If healthy, Jansen starts on atleast 15 teams, it’s not even an argument.
So moving Jansen in to a DH role would almost certainly make your team worse, you have to look on both sides of the ball. But anyways man, think what you want.
Id like dor him to wear hand plates on the back of his hand and be signed to a 3-5 year extension 4 ideally. Mayne 4/32M so he gets a 8 AAV amd them 2-4M in incentives based on games started or PAs or something. That way if he continues to get these hand injuries they are somewhat covered and he gets the ability to earn 10-12M per season and enter FA again at 33/34. A 8M AAV would pit him in the top 10 catchers and 12M put him in the top 5
BRO REALLY. Look im sure us jays fams are a little biased but at beat there are 10 teams in this league that woulnt trade there catcher for jansen and im will to say its more like 7 or 8. MLBTR gave some stats to back him up he is average or better in most catching categories except the run game in which he is slightly below average not horrendous.
I agree with you completely the fact that jansen is 15-20% better then league average with the bat means you “could” DH him or find him a home in LF or at 1st but why the hell would you want to? Having that bat at catcher has elite value. Danny is a top 10 catcher IMO today and at least 20 teams would trade there catcher for him. The fact that he keeps getting these hand, and HBP injuries and STILL comes back with the stick says alot. The guy really needs to wear the hand guard/shield. Also im really surprised the jays havnt extend him by now, why trade Moreno if you were going to let Jansen walk. If thats what there going to do i hope they trade him at the deadline then lose him for nothing but i do want him to stick around for 4 or 5 more years
You look it up! Your the one who is wrong. You don’t seem to understand how stats work. Jano is top 25 in many defensive categories (out of 100+ catchers) and top 15 in ops meaning he is a starter on any team in baseball.
Did you read the article? Rogers media is not the only one saying he in solid defensively. The author of this post just did as well. You are still banging on that tired drum despite no one ever agreeing with you. Give it a rest already. His WAR on a per game basis is one of the best for catchers.
Not even a solid mlb catcher? Who are you watching lol a 3rd string catcher off the bench? Who has a 3rd string catcher on the bench?
I watch the games and you listen to Rogers media to much so do both of us a favor and go look up some stats about catching and you will understand. Here are a couple to get you started…most catchers have plus 5-7 DRS Jansen is a -2,, Kirk is a plus 17, DRP (IMO a better stat to judge catchers) Kirk is ranked 12 with a 6 but Jansen is ranked 26 with a 2.8. and so on so on
If Jansen getting hit while batting is so easy to solve that you got it all figured out then why can’t the Blue Jays fix it?
Man you like the smell of your own farts
Moreno is
No its about Jansen the piece is about Danny Jansen.
Didn’t say it was easy to solve did I? That’s how he stands, and feels he’s most effective standing that way. He has been extremely effective at hitting for 2 plus seasons now, which is his strength (notice you didn’t mention those stats though) but the stats you did look up on statcast that you were so eager to point out to form your argument don’t really prove anything except you know how to look up stats on statcast but are unable to form a opinion of your own by watching the games. All good though you do you
Of course *facepalm
Arghhhhh
From Cranston?
Yeah ya know her?
PSH YEAH I KNOW HER, I mean I remember you talking about her…
Could be an opening to start that Moreno kid….oh….crap….
He’s banged up too!
How many of his injuries are due to hbp?
…getting out of hand?
Get Well Soon Danny….
If somebody said he broke his pisiform bone, I would think, “No,, there isn’t really a bone in there?!?!”
Most injury prone player in MLB history. He must have some type of brittle bone disease or something of the sort. Also that Moreno trade was always awful but it somehow gets worse every day.
It’s like a broken record at this point. This is at least the third time in the last few seasons he’s broken his hand getting hit catching or batting.
At this point, Jansen needs the Vladdy armor treatment. Jansen has been pigheaded and insists on batting with no gloves or protection and has been hurt by HBP at least 7 times. Adapt, improvise and overcome!
He was wearing a protective pad on his hand during that at bat. The other hand. He got hit on the back wrist. You can’t protect every millimeter with armor and still swing.
I think its at least worth mentioning Serven is batting 308./400 /923 this spring with a pair of homers and 10 runs driven in.
its spring and his track record is atrocious. He will be lucky to hit .200/300/700 during the year.
if i could get 200/300/700 production out of my starting catcher I’d be happy, let alone out of my third catcher
i said he would be lucky to get that. His career OPS is 562 and OBP is 248. He stinks.
Thanks for clarifying. I’m sure it would be hard for any catcher to maintain a 700 slugging percentage
LMAO at using spring training stats to make your argument.
Casuals gonna casual I guess.
He didn’t make a point tho did he? He said it was worth mentioning he didn’t make a statement or argument that he’s a good catcher did he? Lmao
Never heard of him lol
Jansen? And you are an MLB/Yankee fan? This would be the equivalent of Jays fan saying they have never heard of Gleyber Torres or if we are talking positionally, Gary Sanchez when he was the NYY primary catcher.
I’ve heard of Smittywerbenyangermanjansen
This isn’t related, but just thinking about the Jays… Schneider has to be an early hot seat contender, right? His FO isn’t doing him any favors either, though.
Yeah, other than assembling one of the best starting rotations & the best defense in all of baseball, i can understand how you might’ve come to that conclusion. JFC
You’re right, and then they underperformed like crazy. Usually the manager takes the fall for a team underperforming that much. You can’t sit here and tell me the 2023 Jays met your expectations, lol. They’re up there with the Mets in that regard.
But they also got worse on paper this off-season, so I would understand if you think Schneider is safe and the blame would fall more on the FO for 2024.
I highly doubt he’s on the hot seat, he took an under performing team in 22 and turned them into a playoff team. His cy young candidate from 22 fell off a cliff in 23 and some core players didn’t hit and they still made the playoffs.
I’m sure Shapiro takes the entire season and then makes decisions on every one after the season
Hard to say. I’d put him in the very lukewarm seat along with Boone and even Dave Roberts. I think the hot seats belong to Servais and Marmol.
Should be Marmol.
Danny Jansen cracked his Pisiform?
Why wasn’t he wearing his cup?
Of course…because it’s not officially baseball season until Jansen suffers some kind of hand/wrist injury.
Why people are surprised by this I do not know. Jansen is injured every year and plays in roughly 75ish games a year. The big question is why do the Blue Jays not have a third catcher already on the 40 man roster? Its not like this is a new thing to them.
I don’t think anyone is expressing surprise.
At this point, everyone is aware of his luck with injuries.
They’ll have a 3rd catcher on the roster by opening day. They’re doing spring tryouts as many teams do for the 3rd string catcher. There’s no need to declare who it’ll be until their comfortable with the decision.
Your missing the point…This is “suppose to be” a team competing for a playoff spot, so to suggest they were not aware that Jansen would get hurt and IF he did they would try some people out in Spring Training and go from there is not good enough. They should have had a MLB backup catcher for Kirk going into Spring Training knowing that at some point Jansen will get hurt and they were going to need him.. To suggest otherwise is poor Front Office planning.
Which major league caliber catcher that was available this off-season do you think they could have gotten to agree to sign to be a 3rd string/minor league depth option.
The guys they have are the type of guys that would have signed such a deal.
Serven looks interesting. Doubt they could have gotten anyone dramatically better
Why not, they did every other year, McGuire, Rob Brantly, Tyler Hienamen (whom they had and lost) to name a few and there were other backups out on the market that sat for a time before signing.
As for Severn he looks OK in ST but I do not know much about him and to say he is better than the other option that we had in the past remains to be seen BUT if he is that good he should be added to the roster because as I have said, it is not IF Jansen gets injured but when.
Also the fact that a team is willing to put a player on the 40man roster makes it more appealing for those players (such as some backup catchers) to sign..and often time it helps bring in those more proven players.
IMO they should have added a legit backup and moved Jansen to the third string catcher/DH/bat of the bench.role
As usual your opinion on Jansen isn’t worth much.
I don’t know if it’s the wrong Payton Henry listed or not, but I’d assume it is the right one and baseball reference shows that he did make his MLB debut already with the Marlins. I’m confused. If he has been with Milwaukee his entire career, then baseball reference has their info wrong, very wrong. Or there are 2 Payton Henry’s on the bluejays and both play catcher. One who spent their entire career with Milwaukee, and one who did in fact make their MLB debut with the Marlins. Someone clear this up for me.
Never mind I did see he spent time with the Marlins in the article. I skipped that part by mistake, but he did make his MLB debut.
I dont get people in the comments…its a HBP..theres nothing you can do as a batter
Jansen is injury-prone. Has been his entire career. Also sets his hands too close to the plate as a hitter.
No one is BLAMING him, thats like blaming someone for being bald.
Well it’s been two months since he’d been injured so he was due. Always gets hit in the hand/wrist and is hurt. Maybe he needs to change something with how he bats
We’ll trade you Joey Bart for a gallon of maple syrup. OK fine, a quart.
Hate Jansen got hurt. Maybe opportunity to acquire Bart as backup
Probably should get Varsho into some catcher action.
@Joe S
Varsho is beyond bad behind the plate.
Bart can actually be a good hitter and defender, he’s just psyched out with the Giants. Total change of scenery dude.
All these discussions would be mute if the idiot GM had not traded a future all star catcher for an outfielder who can’t hit.
Varsho had his first season is a new league. Give him a chance to get to know the pitchers. He actually hit pretty well over the last 2 months of the season. He has also been tearing it up this spring. Even players like Seager and Olson had down numbers their first year in a new league before coming on strong the next season. Let’s see what he does this year, before writing him off.
Even with the down year at the plate his WAR was pretty similar to Moreno’s last season. People really underestimate the value he brings defensively. He leade all players last year with 29 DRS. If he gets back to what he did at the plate with Arizona that is a valuable player. If he hits better than that he is extremely valuable
I also think having Votto around will help him as there were no good lefthanded hitters around to mentor him last year. Mattingly taking a greater role on the offensive side of coaching should help as well (he mentioned he didn’t do much of that last year as he didn’t want to to step on any toes last season). Those are 2 of the best lefthanded hitters of all time he has to mentor him.