Danny Jansen

Jansen attended Appleton West High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 16th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.[1] He had committed to play college baseball at Jacksonville University, but signed with the Blue Jays instead.[2] He was assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Blue Jays for the season, appearing in 36 games and hitting .246 with 18 runs batted in (RBI). He showed above-average plate discipline that season, walking 21 times while striking out only 10 times.[1] In 2014, Jansen was promoted to the Rookie Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays. In 38 games, he batted .282 with five home runs and 17 RBI.[1] Jansen was assigned to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts in 2015, but spent more than half the season on the disabled list.[3] After a seven-game rehab stint in the Gulf Coast League, Jansen rejoined the Lugnuts in August. In 53 total games, he hit .210 with five home runs and 30 RBI.[1]

Jansen was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016,[4] and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12.[5] He was assigned to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays for the 2016 minor league season.[6] In 57 total games, Jansen hit .218 with one home run and 25 RBI in 2016.[1] After the 2016 season, the Blue Jays assigned Jansen to the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.[7] He appeared in 20 games for the Sox and hit .282 with 11 RBI and the first two triples of his professional career.[8][9]

Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Jansen found he was having vision problems, and began wearing glasses on and off the field.[10] The glasses paid immediate dividends, as Jansen hit .369 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 31 games for Dunedin before being promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He played in 52 games for New Hampshire and hit .291 before being promoted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in August.[1][10] With Buffalo, Jansen hit .328 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games.[1] On November 20, 2017, Jansen was added to Toronto's 40-man roster.[11] Heading into the 2018 season, Jansen was named the eighth-best catching prospect by MLB.[12] He played in the All-Star Futures Game in July, during which he hit a home run.[13]

The Blue Jays promoted Jansen to the major leagues on August 12, 2018.[14] He made his debut the following night, recording two singles in a 3–1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. He and Sean Reid-Foley became the first batterymates to debut in the same American League game since Billy Rohr and Russ Gibson did so in April 1967.[15] Jansen hit his first major league home run on August 14 off Royals pitcher Heath Fillmyer, breaking a 3–3 tie in a game the Blue Jays would end up winning 6–5.[16] He finished the season hitting .247 in 31 games.

Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Jansen batted .182 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 43 games.[17] During Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jansen became the second Blue Jays player in franchise history with a multi-home run game in the post-season.[18]

The 2021 season saw Jansen playing 70 games, splitting playing time with catcher Reese McGuire. Jansen spent time on the injured list in July and August with a right hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup to play the last 21 games of the season with a .322 batting average and 7 home runs.[19]

Jansen's 2022 season began strong before a left oblique injury in April sidelined him for over a month. On June 6, Jansen was again placed on the IL after suffering a fracture in his left pinky finger after being hit by a 96mph pitch during a game against the Kansas City Royals.[20]

On July 22, 2022, the Blue Jays set a franchise record for runs scored in a game with a 28-5 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Jansen hit 2 home runs over the Green Monster in left field, scored 4 times, and contributed 6 RBIs.[21]

On January 13, 2023, Jansen signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration.[22] On September 1, Jansen suffered a fractured right middle finger after he was hit by a foul tip.[23] On September 8, he underwent surgery to insert a pin into his finger, ending his season.[24] Jansen finished the year playing in 86 games and hitting .228/.312/.474 with career–highs in home runs (17) and RBI (53).[25]