Danny Jansen


Daniel Robert Jansen is an American professional baseball catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball.

Professional career

Minor leagues

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. He had committed to play college baseball at Jacksonville University, but signed with the Blue Jays instead. 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. He showed above-average plate discipline that season, walking 21 times while striking out only 10 times. 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. Jansen was assigned to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts in 2015, but spent more than half the season on the disabled list. 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.
Jansen was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12. He was assigned to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays for the 2016 minor league season. In 57 total games, Jansen hit.218 with one home run and 25 RBI in 2016. After the 2016 season, the Blue Jays assigned Jansen to the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. He appeared in 20 games for the Sox and hit.282 with 11 RBI and the first two triples of his professional career.
Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Jansen found he was having vision problems, and began wearing glasses on and off the field. 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. With Buffalo, Jansen hit.328 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games. On November 20, 2017, Jansen was added to Toronto's 40-man roster. Heading into the 2018 season, Jansen was named the eighth-best catching prospect by MLB. He played in the All-Star Futures Game in July, where he hit a home run.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays promoted Jansen to the major leagues on August 12, 2018. 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. 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. He finished the season hitting.247 in 31 games.

Personal life

Danny Jansen is the younger son of parents Steve and Kathy. His older brother is Matthew. In his youth, Jansen's family hosted players for the then-Seattle Mariners Class-A affiliate Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. In 2004, Adam Jones was housed by the Jansen family.