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Danny Jansen Placed On 10-Day IL With Finger Fracture

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4:04pm: The Blue Jays have officially announced that Jansen was placed on the 10-day IL with a finger fracture, calling up Heineman in the corresponding move.

9:31am: Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen had to make an early exit from yesterday’s game due to what was eventually revealed as a fracture in the knuckle of his right middle finger.  During an at-bat in the sixth inning, Rockies left fielder Nolan Jones fouled a ball into Jansen’s exposed right hand, leaving the catcher in obvious discomfort.  Jansen remained behind the plate for the rest of the inning, but Alejandro Kirk pinch-hit for Jansen in the top of the seventh.

Tyler Heineman has already been called up from Triple-A as at least a precautionary measure while Jansen undergoes further imaging and tests, as manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters.  Given the nature of the injury, it’s hard to imagine that Jansen will be able to avoid the 10-day injured list, leaving the Jays without their starting catcher for at least some of their playoff push.  Kirk will take most of the starts in the interim, with Heineman perhaps getting only sparing backup duty.

Jansen has hit .228/.312/.474 with 17 homers over 301 plate appearances this season, translating to a 115 wRC+ that ranks third among all qualified Blue Jays hitters.  This adds to Jansen’s resume as one of the more quietly productive catchers in baseball, though due to injuries and splitting time with Kirk and other Toronto backstops, he has only amassed 754 PA since the start of the 2021 season.  This season, Jansen missed a few weeks due to a groin strain, and has perhaps been fortunate to avoid a hand injury until now considering how frequently Jansen is hit by pitches (10) or the natural risk and wear-and-tear of catching duty.

His injury resume includes another finger fracture last season, which kept Jansen for a little over a month.  That particular fracture was near Jansen’s left pinky finger, and given the wide variance and severity of finger-related problems, it is far to too soon to tell if Jansen’s current issue is anywhere as severe, or how long he might be out of action.

Consistency has been a problem all season for Toronto’s lineup, even before Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman went onto the IL earlier this week.  Losing Jansen would be another significant hit, though Nicholson-Smith writes that Bichette and Chapman have at least been working out on the field, creating hope that either player might be back at or shortly after the 10-day minimum absence.

Blue Jays Place Alejandro Kirk On Injured List

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The Blue Jays placed catcher/designated hitter Alejandro Kirk on the 10-day injured list in advance of tonight’s game in Miami. He’s dealing with a laceration on his left hand. Toronto also optioned Bowden Francis to Triple-A Buffalo, recalling reliever Trent Thornton and backstop Tyler Heineman to take the active roster spots.

Kirk took a Jon Gray fastball off his hand during yesterday’s loss to the Rangers. He came out of the game, with Danny Jansen hopping in behind the plate. While postgame x-rays fortunately didn’t reveal any fractures, Kirk will still need at least a week and a half to recuperate. It halts what has been an uncharacteristically middling offensive season for the right-handed hitter. Kirk is hitting .253/.337/.331 over 202 trips to the plate.

He started the season well, putting up a .274/.418/.387 line through the end of April. Over the past month and a half, he’s managed only a .241/.285/.302 showing. Jansen, who’ll get the bulk of the catching reps while Kirk is out, has been on an opposite trajectory. He had a .179/.246/.375 slash through the season’s first month-plus but has found his power stroke with a .235/.286/.506 mark going back to May 1.

Heineman is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. He’ll get the nod as Jansen’s backup for now. He’s made six MLB appearances since Toronto acquired him from the Pirates at the end of April.

Blue Jays Place Brandon Belt On Injured List

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The Blue Jays announced a series of moves today, reinstating catcher Danny Jansen from the injured list while recalling infielder Ernie Clement and right-hander Bowden Francis. To open spots for those three, catcher Tyler Heineman was optioned, righty Adam Cimber went on the paternity list and first baseman Brandon Belt was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 11, with left hamstring inflammation.

Belt, 35, had spent his entire career with the Giants until recently, signing with the Jays this winter on a one-year, $9.3MM deal. It was a risky play for the club since Belt slashed a subpar .213/.326/.350 last year for a 96 wRC+ as he battled various ailments and eventually underwent season-ending knee surgery. But the Jays were surely hoping that the procedure could help him bounce back to the form he showed in 2020 and 2021. Over those two campaigns, he hit a combined .285/.393/.595. That amounted to a 162 wRC+, which trailed only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper among all hitters in the league with at least 550 plate appearances.

He got out to a slow start with his new club, as he was hitting just .169/.246/.288 through the end of April. But he’s slashed an excellent .323/.452/.527 since the calendar flipped to May to bring his overall batting line to .263/.378/.434 and a wRC+ of 130. He’s struck out in 37.2% of his trips to the plate but also walked in 15% of them.

Subtracting a bat of that caliber is an unwelcome development for the Jays, though Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet relays that the club is hoping for a minimum stint. Belt departed Saturday’s game with left hamstring tightness and the Jays took a couple of days to decide whether the issue was serious enough to warrant an IL stint. Since the move is backdated, he could be back in just over a week if it indeed proves to be a minor issue.

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base most days, Belt had seen more time as the designated hitter than in the field. The one silver lining of Belt’s absence is that there should be more opportunities to rotate other players through there in the meantime for some partial rest.

Blue Jays Place Danny Jansen On IL With Groin Strain

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The Blue Jays announced that catcher Danny Jansen has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 25, with a left groin strain. Fellow backstop Tyler Heineman has been recalled in a corresponding move.

Jansen, 28, has been splitting the catching duties with Alejandro Kirk fairly evenly so far this season, with Jansen getting 28 starts to Kirk’s 23. Jansen is capable of being a two-way contributor when healthy, as he hit .260/.339/.516 last year for a wRC+ of 140 while also putting up five Defensive Runs Saved. FanGraphs strangely ranked him as a negative pitch framer last season, though he’s been in the positive territory in every other season of his career.

He hasn’t quite matched that level of offense this year, currently hitting .207/.273/.413 for the season. Though that’s being dragged down by an ice-cold start to the year, as he’s hitting .250/.314/.510 from April 15 onwards for a wRC+ of 124. Unfortunately, he’ll now have to hit the shelf for a while, something that has become a common theme for him. With the shortened 2020 schedule and IL stints in each campaign since, he hasn’t topped 72 games played in an individual season since 2019. He departed Wednesday’s game with groin tightness and the club gave him a day to see how it progressed, but it’s evidently serious enough that they’ll give him at least another week to recuperate.

Presumably, that means the lion’s share of playing time will now fall to Kirk, who’s also not hitting up to last year’s standards. He hit .285/.372/.415 in 2022 for a wRC+ of 129 but is slashing just .248/.360/.333 this year for a wRC+ of 101. He and the Jays will hope that some extra reps will allow him to make up some of the difference between those two lines.

Backing him up will be Heineman, whom the Jays acquired from the Pirates at the end of April. He only played three games with the Pirates this year, having spent most of the season with the Triple-A clubs of the two organizations. He’s hit .260/.393/.400 between those two clubs for a wRC+ of 108. He has 246 major league plate appearances in his career, going back to 2019, with a batting line of .210/.276/.269 in those. He also accrued six Defensive Runs Saved and positive marks for his framing work.

Blue Jays Acquire Tyler Heineman

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As noted by Kevin Gorman of Tribune-Review Sports, the Pirates have traded catcher Tyler Heineman to the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league infielder Vinny Capra. Capra was assigned to Triple-A. Per The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath, Toronto assigned Jordan Luplow outright to Triple-A to make room on the 40-man roster for Heineman, who was optioned to Triple-A. Heineman had been designated for assignment by the Pirates earlier this week.

This moves marks Heineman’s second stint with the Blue Jays. An eighth round pick by the Astros in the 2012 draft, Heineman was on his fourth organization by the time he made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2019. He then appeared in 15 games for the Giants during the shortened 2020 season before signing a minor league deal in Toronto ahead of the 2022 season. Heineman appeared in ten games with the Jays before the Pirates claimed him off waivers from the club last May.

Heineman played in 52 games for the Pirates, by far the longest stint in the majors of his career. During that time, he slashed just .211/.277/.254 over 158 plate appearances. Following the 2023 campaign, Heineman was non-tendered by the Pirates but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal. He was selected to the roster early in the season and appeared in three games for the club before being DFA’d, a move which opened the door for his return to Toronto. Heineman figures to serve as catching depth for the Blue Jays in Triple-A. Prior to the addition of Heineman, the Blue Jays had no catchers on the 40-man roster besides their current tandem of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen.

Going the other way is Capra, a 26-year-old who made his MLB debut one year ago tomorrow. While he slashed just .200/.429/.200 in eight games with the Blue Jays last year, Capra has a solid .263/.347/.393 slash line over five seasons in the minors. Capra also brings versatility to the table, with considerable time in the outfield corners in addition to regular work at shortstop, second base, and third base.  Capra was non-tendered by Toronto back in November, but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal just days later.

As for Luplow, the 29-year-old outfielder is in his seventh season in the big leagues. Toronto claimed him off waivers from the Braves earlier this season, but he struggled in a four game stint with the club, striking out four times and drawing a walk but recording no hits during that time. Luplow has since been optioned to Triple-A, and will now need to be re-added to the 40-man roster before he can return to big leagues with the Blue Jays. Despite his struggles this season, Luplow has been a solid bat in the past, with a career wRC+ of 101 including a 123 mark from 2019-2021.

Pirates Select Cody Bolton, Designate Tyler Heineman

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The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Cody Bolton and reinstated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the bereavement list. In corresponding moves, right-hander Wil Crowe was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 23, with right shoulder discomfort and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, catcher Tyler Heineman was designated for assignment. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic has previously reported that Bolton had the locker in the clubhouse that previously was used by Smith-Njigba (Twitter links). Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported Crowe’s IL placement.

Bolton, 25 in June, is now added to a big league roster for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Pirates in the sixth round of the 2017 draft and has been working his way up to the big leagues since then. He posted some really good results in the lower levels, working as a starter at that time, and got some love from prospect evaluators. Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in the Bucs’ system in 2020.

Unfortunately, his progress then hit a few snags. He had already missed time with a forearm injury and groin strain before his 2021 season was wiped out entirely by knee surgery. With the pandemic canceling the minors the prior year, that meant he went two whole years without playing in an official game. He returned last year and made 30 Triple-A appearances, 14 of those being starts, tossing 75 2/3 innings in the process. He registered a 3.09 ERA along with a 25.4% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 40.6% ground ball rate.

This year, it seems he’s been moved to the bullpen more permanently, as all eight of his appearances for Indianapolis were of the relief variety. He has a 2.38 ERA through 11 1/3 innings so far, with his strikeouts jumping to 31.8% and his walks falling to 4.5%. The Pirates will now give him a chance to see if he can carry those kinds of results over to the major leagues.

As for Heineman, 32 in June, he’s a journeyman catcher who has appeared in 85 major league games dating back to the start of the 2019 season, hitting .210/.276/.269 in that time. He’s suited up for the Marlins, Giants, Blue Jays and Pirates in his career. He got into 52 games for the Bucs last year but was non-tendered after the season and re-signed on a minor league deal. He was selected to the roster a few weeks ago when Austin Hedges went on the concussion-related injured list, getting into three games. He was optioned to the minors when Hedges returned and now loses his 40-man spot. The Bucs will have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency since he has a previous career outright.

The Pirates are now fairly thin behind the plate on their roster. Hedges and Jason Delay form the catching duo in the big leagues but the only other backstop on the 40-man is prospect Endy Rodríguez, who was recently placed on the minor league injured list with a forearm strain. Given those facts, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them try to retain Heineman or acquire some other depth.

Pirates Select Tyler Heineman, Designate Edwin Uceta

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The Pirates announced a batch of roster moves prior to tonight’s game. Catcher Austin Hedges was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. Fellow catcher Tyler Heineman was selected to take his active roster spot. In order to open a spot for Heineman on the 40-man, right-hander Edwin Uceta was designated for assignment. Additionally, outfielder Ryan Vilade, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Hedges, 30, has long been considered one of the game’s better defensive backstops, though he doesn’t provide much on offense. His career batting line of .189/.247/.330 amounts to a wRC+ of 54, indicating he’s been 46% below league average at the plate. But he’s racked up 75 Defensive Runs Saved since debuting in 2015, the highest total in the majors during that stretch. He signed with the Bucs in the offseason for one year and $5MM, a sensible match given that he could work with the rebuilding club’s young pitching staff.

It’s unclear exactly how Hedges sustained this concussion, but the club will have to proceed without him for at least the next week. Jason Delay is already on the roster and Heineman will now join him to form the club’s catching duo for the time being. Heineman, 32 in June, has 82 games of major league experience with a .214/.279/.276 batting line and +6 DRS. Both he and Delay have options, so either could be sent to the minors when Hedges returns.

Uceta, 25, has changed jerseys quite a few times in the past little while. The Pirates just claimed him off waivers from the Tigers two days ago, with the latter club claiming him off waivers from the Diamondbacks in January. He spent just one year in Arizona, as that club claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers at the end of the 2021 season. He posted a 5.82 ERA for the Snakes last year and a 4.86 mark for their Triple-A club. He only struck out 17.8% of hitters he faced in the big leagues but he had a 32.7% rate in the minors, though that came with a 14% walk rate. The Pirates will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers.

Vilade, who just turned 24 in February, has just seven plate appearances of experience in the big leagues, which came with the Rockies in 2021. He struck out once and walked once without recording a hit. A career .281/.357/.410 hitter in the minor leagues, Vilade has experience at each of shortstop, third base, first base, and the three outfield spots during his minor league career. In addition to his positional versatility, Vilade’s fairly low strikeout rate (17.4%) and solid walk rate (10.0%) in the minor leagues indicate a potentially valuable bench piece at the big league level, but for now he’ll wait for an opportunity with the Pirates at Triple-A. As a player with less than three years of big league service time who has not yet been outrighted in his career, Vilade cannot reject his outright assignment.

Chris Owings Won’t Make Pirates’ Roster, Accepts Reassignment To Minor Leagues

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Earlier today, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington informed Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that several veterans on minor league deals have opt-outs in their contracts. Infielder/outfielder Chris Owings and right-hander Tyler Chatwood can each opt out today if they are not going to make the Opening Day roster, while catcher Tyler Heineman has an upward mobility clause that will let him depart on Monday if another team is willing to give him a spot. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic now reports that Owings has been informed he won’t make the club. Instead of triggering the opt-out, he will head to minor league camp on Sunday and begin the season in Triple-A. The fates of the other two players aren’t publicly known at this time.

Owings, 31, spent the first few seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks but has become a journeyman in recent years, suiting up for the Royals, Red Sox, Rockies and Orioles over the past few campaigns. His past two seasons form a textbook illustration of the perils of small sample sizes, in both directions. With the Rockies in 2021, he hit .326/.420/.628 while limited by a thumb injury to just 21 games. With the Orioles last year, he hit .107/.254/.143 in 27 games before getting designated for assignment. Overall, his career batting line is .239/.287/.366, wRC+ of 66.

Despite that tepid offense, Owings can provide defensive versatility. In his career, he’s played everywhere on the diamond except first base and catcher. The Pirates will likely have Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski and Andrew McCutchen in the outfield most days, with Ke’Bryan Hayes at third and Oneil Cruz at shortstop. Second base is a bit less clear, with options on the roster including Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae, Mark Mathias and Liover Peguero. Owings could have been considered for a bench role, but the club evidently feels they have sufficient coverage from those many infielders, as well as outfielders already on the roster like Connor Joe, Canaan Smith-Njigba and others. Owings could have returned to the open market but seems content to head to Indianapolis to try to work his way into a roster spot later on.

Chatwood, 33, is a veteran starter that has transitioned into a relief role in recent years. He made 32 appearances in 2021 between the Blue Jays and Giants, but with an unsightly 5.63 ERA and 14.5% walk rate. Control has long been an issue for Chatwood but he’s always tantalized with big strikeout totals as well. Last year, he joined the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball but shoulder surgery wiped out his season after just six appearances. This spring, he’s made five appearances, allowing nine earned runs while walking six and striking out four.

Heineman, 32 in June, was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays in May of last year. He hit .211/.277/.254 for the Bucs and was non-tendered at season’s end, but rejoined the club on a minor league deal. He’s hitting .095 here in spring thus far but seems to be in the running for a backup catcher job behind Austin Hedges. The only other backstop currently on the roster is prospect Endy Rodríguez, who has already been optioned to minor league camp. Kevin Plawecki was recently informed he won’t be making the team and he will be triggering his opt out. That seems to leave Heineman and Jason Delay as the frontrunners for the backup job, though the club will have to make a decision on Heineman soon.

Kevin Plawecki Will Not Make Pirates’ Roster

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Veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki, who’s been in camp with the Pirates this spring as a non-roster invitee, has been informed he won’t make the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The catcher’s locker has been emptied out, and John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now writes that Plawecki will exercise the opt-out clause in his contract. Plawecki has an opt-out afforded to him as an Article XX(B) free agent (that is, a player with six-plus years of service who ended the preceding season on a Major League roster or injured list). The formal date for that opt-out is tomorrow, but it’s possible the Bucs gave him the courtesy of allowing him to step away sooner in order to have more time to search for a new opportunity.

Plawecki, 32, went 4-for-17 with a pair of doubles, no walks and two strikeouts in limited time with the Pirates this spring. He’s coming off a 2022 season in which he batted .220/.286/.286 with eight doubles in 186 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Rangers.

A veteran of eight big league seasons, Plawecki is a lifetime .235/.313/.341 hitter in the Majors. He’s primarily operated as a backup throughout his career. Plawecki drew plus grades for his defense and framing early in his career, but his framing has been closer to average over the past couple years and Statcast has dinged his blocking skills as below-average in that time. Plawecki has a strong reputation both in the clubhouse and for his work with pitchers; both Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill expressed frustration and disappointment to WEEI’s Rob Bradford last year following the Red Sox’ decision to release Plawecki late in the year.

For the Pirates, subtracting Plawecki from camp likely means either Tyler Heineman or Jason Delay will be the backup to starter Austin Hedges. Neither has hit particularly well this spring — Heineman is 1-for-17, Delay is 2-for-12 — but both appeared in at least 52 games with Pittsburgh last season and are already familiar with the pitching staff. Neither player is currently on the 40-man roster.

Pirates, Tyler Heineman Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates are re-signing catcher Tyler Heineman to a minor league contract, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). He’ll receive an invite to big league camp.

Heineman will look to crack the Pittsburgh roster for a second straight season. The Bucs nabbed him off waivers from the Blue Jays last May, and he spent the remainder of the 2022 season in Pittsburgh. Heineman set career marks in both MLB games (62) and plate appearances (174) in 2022, with the bulk of that work coming in the Steel City. He and Jason Delay mostly split catching duties for the second half.

The 31-year-old hit .211/.277/.254 through 158 trips to the plate as a Pirate. He now owns a .214/.279/.276 line with one home run in 236 career big league plate appearances. The UCLA product has a far more impressive .283/.350/.413 mark in parts of seven seasons at Triple-A. Heineman has only gone down on strikes in 14.1% of his career trips to the dish at the top minor league level, and he’s carried those excellent bat-to-ball skills over against big league arms. He has just an 11.4% strikeout rate in the majors, but a complete lack of power has resulted in his overall lackluster offensive production.

At the end of the season, the Pirates designated Heineman for assignment. He was not tendered a contract while in DFA limbo, sending him directly to free agency. A month later, he’ll return to the organization and try to play his back onto the MLB roster. A 10-year minor league veteran, he’ll bring a fair bit of familiarity with the pitching staff in Spring Training.

The Pirates are sure to make more impactful moves behind the plate this winter. The Bucs only have one catcher, prospect Endy Rodriguez, on the 40-man roster at the moment. The switch-hitter is sure to open the season in the minors, so GM Ben Cherington and his staff will have to bring in a starting backstop from outside the organization. They could add multiple big league pieces. At the very least, they figure to bring in a new starter and another player or two on non-roster invitations to compete with Heineman and Delay for a backup job next spring.

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