Danny Jansen injury update after leaving game vs. Rays with apparent injury

During Wednesday night's contest against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays lost more than just the game.

In the top of the fifth inning, catcher Danny Jansen was pulled from the game after suffering an apparent injury sprinting to first base. At the time, nothing looked visibly wrong with him, but Alejandro Kirk was behind the plate in the bottom half of the inning. Once the game concluded, the Blue Jays posted on Twitter that Jansen was pulled with left groin tightness.

Jansen's early exit from the game put the Blue Jays in a tight spot since Kirk, the only other true catcher on the club, was put into action. Outfielder Daulton Varsho is the team's third-string/emergency catcher, but the plan all along has been to move him away from work behind the plate and keep him in the outfield, where he excels defensively.

The hope is obviously that Jansen will avoid a serious injury or time on the injured list. Lately, he has been one of the hottest hitters on the club, registering 11 hits in his last 10 games, including three doubles, three home runs and 10 runs batted in. On the season, he has six home runs, 26 runs driven in and an OPS of .686.

Fortunately, the Blue Jays have done a solid job of bringing aboard depth at the catcher position in the minor leagues. All of the "Daulton Varsho will be the backup catcher!" talk can be brought to a halt. Jamie Ritchie, Stevie Berman, Rob Brantly and Tyler Heineman are all in the high-minors and could be respectable backups while Kirk gets the majority of the playing time.

For what it's worth, Heineman, who is on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster, was pulled from this evening's Buffalo Bisons game. This likely means he is scrambling to the nearest airport so he can be with the Blue Jays by tomorrow's game, which is slated to start at 1:10pm ET.