Danny Jansen's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

The Toronto Blue Jays reinstated catcher Danny Jansen from the paternity list on Thursday and optioned catcher Brian Serven to Triple-a Buffalo in a corresponding move. Jansen is serving as the designated hitter and is batting in the two-hole for the Jays on Thursday against the visiting Houston Astros and left-hander Framber Valdez. The 29-year-old backstop missed the first three games of the series against Houston but will return for the series finale on the Fourth of July. Injuries have limited Jansen to 163 at-bats in 2024, and he's hitting just .227/.316/.399 with a .714 OPS, five home runs and 16 RBI. He's been a league-average hitter as he shares playing time with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Jansen isn't going to hit for average, but he has decent pop at the weak catcher position when he's healthy.

The Toronto Blue Jays placed catcher Danny Jansen on the paternity list on Monday and recalled catcher Brian Serven from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move. Jansen will likely miss the next three days and the series against the visiting Houston Astros to begin the first week in July. In his absence, Alejandro Kirk will serve as Toronto's primary catcher with Serven backing him up. Kirk is behind the plate for Canada Day on Monday and is batting eighth against Astros right-hander Hunter Brown. Jansen hit just .129 (8-for-62) with no homers, three doubles and 14 strikeouts in 20 games in June, so he'll be hoping to turn things around after returning from the paternity list. Kirk hasn't been much better this year, going 27-for-131 (.206) with only two homers and 18 RBI as Toronto's other catcher.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's contest against the visiting Cleveland Guardians. The 29-year-old is mired in a slump as he has collected just one base hit (a single) across his last five starts (six appearances) and 21 trips to the plate, so he will take a seat against Guardians righty Ben Lively on Saturday afternoon. Alejandro Kirk will take over and hit eighth on Saturday. A free-agent-to-be, Jansen has established himself as perhaps one of this summer's highly-touted trade targets as he has hit five homers alongside an 11.7% BB% and a .746 OPS across an injury-shortened 45 games played, production that grades out 14% superior to the league average, as per his 114 wRC+. Jansen has quietly been one of the more productive catchers in baseball in recent seasons but has had trouble staying healthy while playing in a timeshare with Kirk.