The Blue Jays introduced that catcher Danny Jansen has been positioned on the 10-day injured listing, retroactive to Might 25, with a left groin pressure. Fellow backstop Tyler Heineman has been recalled in a corresponding transfer.
Jansen, 28, has been splitting the catching duties with Alejandro Kirk pretty evenly to date this season, with Jansen getting 28 begins to Kirk’s 23. Jansen is able to being a two-way contributor when wholesome, as he hit .260/.339/.516 final yr for a wRC+ of 140 whereas additionally placing up 5 Defensive Runs Saved. FanGraphs unusually ranked him as a detrimental pitch framer final season, although he’s been within the constructive territory in each different season of his profession.
He hasn’t fairly matched that stage of offense this yr, presently hitting .207/.273/.413 for the season. Although that’s being dragged down by an ice-cold begin to the yr, as he’s hitting .250/.314/.510 from April 15 onwards for a wRC+ of 124. Sadly, he’ll now must hit the shelf for some time, one thing that has develop into a typical theme for him. With the shortened 2020 schedule and IL stints in every marketing campaign since, he hasn’t topped 72 video games performed in a person season since 2019. He departed Wednesday’s recreation with groin tightness and the membership gave him a day to see the way it progressed, but it surely’s evidently severe sufficient that they’ll give him no less than one other week to recuperate.
Presumably, which means the lion’s share of taking part in time will now fall to Kirk, who’s additionally not hitting as much as final yr’s requirements. He hit .285/.372/.415 in 2022 for a wRC+ of 129 however is slashing simply .248/.360/.333 this yr for a wRC+ of 101. He and the Jays will hope that some further reps will permit him to make up a number of the distinction between these two traces.
Backing him up shall be Heineman, whom the Jays acquired from the Pirates on the finish of April. He solely performed three video games with the Pirates this yr, having spent many of the season with the Triple-A golf equipment of the 2 organizations. He’s hit .260/.393/.400 between these two golf equipment for a wRC+ of 108. He has 246 main league plate appearances in his profession, going again to 2019, with a batting line of .210/.276/.269 in these. He additionally accrued six Defensive Runs Saved and constructive marks for his framing work.
