Blue Jays: Jansen returns, but McGuire is the starter

Heading into the second game of their weekend series on Saturday with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays announced Danny Jansen would be returning to the team.

Jansen will be back on the roster nearly four weeks after leaving in the fourth inning on June 6 against the Houston Astros with what turned out to be a hamstring injury.  Jansen had struggled to start the season over 42 games, as he posted a slash line of .157/.248/.278 which was coming off a season where he batted just .183 in 2020.

Jansen made two rehab starts with the Buffalo Bisons where he went 1 for 6 with a pair of walks and runs.

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TSN’s Scott Mitchell reported that Montoyo is going to go with Reese McGuire as the starting catcher and will attempt to find spots to put Jansen into the line-up.  Behind the plate, McGuire has thrown out 5 of 14 base runners this season and has averaged 29% during limited action over his career, while Jansen had thrown out just 2 of 19 base runners this season and has averaged just 23% for his career.

McGuire has had very limited at-bats over his career but has posted a career .264 batting average, which is 64 points higher than Jansen’s career.  This season, McGuire has a slash line of .302/.350/.406 and since Jansen went down with an injury, he has gone 20 for 57 (.351) with six doubles and a home run.

To make room on the active roster, prospect Riley Adams was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo where he started the season.  Adams had a tough time since being called up to the Blue Jays, collecting just three hits in 28 at-bats (.107) and failed to throw out a base runner in eight attempts.  Adams will likely not see a whole lot of action once he gets back to the Bison’s as Alejandro Kirk continues to rehab and is expected to have a longer stay than a normal rehab stint.

If McGuire continues to perform as well as he has over the last month, Jansen’s time as a Blue Jay may come to an end, as Kirk will be pushed to return to the club.

What are your thoughts?  If it comes down to McGuire or Jansen going forward, who would you keep?