Blue Jays: Danny Jansen Impresses in Opening Series

Danny Jansen has started off his 2022 season the same way he ended 2021 – by swinging a hot bat.

Although it’s a very small sample size, Jansen is off to a hot start at the plate this season. Over the 3-game series against the Texas Rangers, Jansen went 4/7 with 2 home runs, 2 RBI, and now has a .571 batting average on the season. Although the sample size is small, this is still very promising for the 26 year old who was widely considered the franchise’s catcher of the future just a few years ago.

As previously mentioned, Jansen ended last season on a high note. Although his numbers were nothing spectacular last year, he did end the season rather spectacularly. Over his last 19 games of the season last year, Jansen hit .331 with five home runs, 17 RBI, and despite having a batting average that hovered around .200 for majority of the season, he was able to raise it to .223 by the season’s end.

Naturally, Jansen’s impressive finish to last season had fans wondering whether the catcher could perform at that level for a full season’s duration. We’re only three games into this season, and he seems to be doing everything he can to do exactly that.

What’s responsible for Jansen finding his stroke at the plate is unknown. It’s possible that he’s changed his approach when up to bat, as he talked about making some adjustments last year, or he may be simply playing with some new found confidence. Another more likely scenario is that he’s heard the noise the Blue Jays’ top catching prospect is making in AAA.

Gabriel Moreno, the Blue Jays No. 1 ranked prospect, is MLB’s No. 9 overall prospect and seems to be inching closer to the major leagues with every at-bat he takes. With all the chatter about Moreno’s seemingly inevitable 2022 Major League debut, Jansen likely wants to prove that he’s still the No. 1 catcher on the ball club. To that end, so far so good.