BOSTON — New Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen might accomplish something that’s exceedingly rare in baseball history: playing for two teams in the same game.
When the Red Sox and Blue Jays resume their suspended game from June 26 on the afternoon of Aug. 26, Jansen, who started at catcher and hit seventh for Toronto when the game started, will be on the other team as a member of the Red Sox. Throwing an extra wrinkle into the circumstances was that Jansen was actually hitting when the game was suspended due to rain and Kutter Crawford had an 0-1 count on him. Now, a pinch-hitter will have to take Jansen’s place when the game resumes, and Jansen will be on Boston’s bench behind starting catcher Connor Wong.
I don’t even know how this works. I’ve heard about it a couple times. That’ll be funky, right?” Jansen said Sunday. “I think I’m down 0-1. One strike on me.”
The Red Sox will have another month to go through baseball’s roster rules before setting their 26-man group for the continuation of the June 26 game, which will start at 2:05 p.m. ET on Aug. 26 before a regularly scheduled game between the clubs starts at 7:10 p.m. ET. For now, Jansen’s goal is to get acclimated to a new organization after spending more than a decade with Toronto, the club that drafted him in the 16th round of the 2013 draft out of West High School in Wisconsin. All 470 of Jansen’s career games have come in a Jays uniform since his major league debut in Aug. 2018.
“I was caught off guard and surprised but after it all settled, I was really excited to be a part of this organization and I’m very grateful to be here,” he said.
The biggest challenge for Jansen, who will serve as Connor Wong’s backup catcher with Reese McGuire having been designated for assignment while also mixing in as the designated hitter in place of Masataka Yoshida against left-handed starters, will be learning a whole new pitching staff in the middle of the season. Facing the Red Sox six times this year (and 52 times in his career) allows the 29-year-old to have some familiarity with their pitchers from afar. But the learning curve will still be a steep one during a process that began Sunday with meetings with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and game planning coordinator Jason Varitek.
“Hopefully, (I’ll learn the staff) sooner rather than later,” Jansen said. “When I get opportunities, I want to talk to guys and also catch maybe a bullpen or two or a flat ground and do as much as I can to hit the ground running on it.”
Manager Alex Cora heard from friends in Toronto who said they expect Jansen to fit in seamlessly.
“They liked him a lot,” Cora said. “I got a few texts last night from J.T. (Justin Turner), from John (Schneider). Carlos (Febles), for some reason, is not returning my texts. He’s a good one. They’ve done a lot of good things pitching-wise the last few years. Yeah, there’s a crash course right now down there with Tek. They’ve been talking for hours with Bails, going over our pitchers. The one thing is that he knows them, too. He faced them and prepared to attack them. So it gives us a head start. It’s going to be a working process but we feel like he’s capable of doing it.”
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The Red Sox hope Jansen’s right-handed swing will play at Fenway. The club acquired him not just as a pure offensive upgrade over the light-hitting McGuire but also to create a more balanced roster for a club that has struggled against lefties lately.
“The last couple years, I’ve tried to tap into more getting the ball in the air to the pull side,” Jansen said. “Looking forward to playing here and trying to keep going with my strengths and adjust a little bit if I need to.”
Jansen is excited for the chance to make the postseason after a disappointing first four months with a scuffling Jays club. It’s something he has only done twice in his career, when Toronto was swept in the best-of-three Wild Card round in both 2020 and 2022.
“It’s what we play for and it’s really exciting,” Jansen said. “Grateful to be here. The atmosphere is incredible, playing against it for so many years now. Playing against these guys, seeing the group and how much talent, it’s really fun to be part of.”
