Viewed in the totality, Danny Jansen is a pretty good catcher. With the bat, he’s displayed good power and on-base skills. Although he’s a righty, he’s tended to perform better against right-handed pitchers. Defensively, he has a great reputation as a receiver and excels at keeping the ball in front of him. Over the past few seasons, Jansen and fellow righty Alejandro Kirk have combined to form one of the most productive catching tandems in all of baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Viewed in the context of 2024, Danny Jansen is . . . bad. While the glove is still there, this season has been his worst year at the plate since 2020, as his power has diminished considerably. His walk and strikeout rates have remained steady, but it was his ability to hit homers (17 in 86 games last year, 15 in 72 the year before) that made him as valuable as he was. Without the homers, he’s just another backup catcher.
And now, Danny Jansen plays for the Boston Red Sox, as Craig Breslow shipped three minor leaguers to Toronto in exchange for Jansen, who is in the last year of his contract.
