Danny Jansen suffers small fracture in right wrist following Wednesday’s HBP, expected to miss multiple weeks

Staying healthy has proven quite the challenge for Jansen, unfortunately. The 28-year-old has made countless trips to the IL in recent years, limiting him to fewer than 100 games played each season since 2019, where he logged a career-high 107 contests.

Many of them, however, have been fluky ailments caused by hit-by-pitches or foul-tip deflections off an opponent’s bat while catching behind the plate. This most recent one becomes his third IL stint related to a hand or wrist fracture since the 2022 campaign.

The Blue Jays slugging backstop, a 16th-round selection in 2013, has also missed time due to forearm, groin, hamstring and oblique injuries over the past three seasons.

Not having Jansen to begin this season is a considerable loss for Toronto’s lineup, which has benefited from his pull-side power approach numerous times since his breakout 2019 performance. But the positive news, if there is any, is that he shouldn’t miss too many regular-season games with 13 days until Opening Day.

As Jansen recovers, teammate Alejandro Kirk will likely handle the brunt of the catching duties, a role he should be more than accustomed to by now. Backing him up will either be Brian Serven – claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs last January – or Payton Henry, neither of whom is currently on the 40-man roster.

Serven has impressed thus far in camp, as he’s gone 5-for-16 (.313 AVG) while crushing three home runs and driving in 12 across nine Grapefruit League contests this spring. The 28-year-old, who spent last season with the Colorado Rockies, appeared to be the leading candidate to assume the club’s third-string catching position – previously served by Tyler Heineman – prior to Jansen’s injury.

Returning as quickly as possible will be crucial for Jansen, especially considering he’ll become a free agent after this season. The veteran catcher is the second-longest tenured Blue Jay on the roster, trailing only Tim Mayza, who made his big-league debut in 2017.

Jansen sits among the top home run-hitting catchers since 2019, with his 62 bombs ranking ninth in the sport. He’s also accomplished that feat in just 1,285 plate appearances, the second-fewest inside the top 10, ahead of only Mitch Garver’s 1,242.

Last season, the 6-foot-2 backstop set career-highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (53) while slashing .228/.312/.474 with a 116 wRC+ over 86 games, worth 2.0 fWAR. He also caught 576.2 innings behind the plate, second only to his 852.2 innings of work in 2019.