Danny Jansen

Danny Jansen

29-Year-Old CatcherC
Tampa Bay Rays
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Jansen missed the first couple weeks of the 2024 season due to a fractured wrist but stayed mostly healthy for the rest of the campaign, though he played in just 92 games between the Blue Jays and Red Sox due to a .205/.309/.349 slash line and nine homers. It was just the second time in five full-length seasons in the big leagues that he's played in more than 90 games, and the offensive struggles were a major drop-off from the .805 OPS he posted from 2021-23. His track record both defensively and offensively prior to 2024 netted Jansen a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Rays. He's atop the depth chart, but the Rays will likely manage him carefully throughout the season in an effort to keep him off the injured list. Even if he rediscovers his prior offensive form, Jansen has a limited realistic fantasy ceiling due to his proven inability to push for 400 plate appearances (career-high 384 in 2019). Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
From Preseason
$Signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Rays in December of 2024. The deal includes a mutual option for 2026.
Nets one-year deal with Tampa Bay
CTampa Bay Rays
December 6, 2024
The Rays agreed to a one-year, $8.5 million contract with Jansen on Friday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
ANALYSIS
The deal also includes a mutual option for 2026. Murray notes that Jansen turned down multi-year offers from other teams, preferring to bet on himself on a one-year pact after a down 2024 campaign which saw him put up a .658 OPS over 92 games between the Blue Jays and Red Sox. Injuries have been a problem for Jansen, whose career high in games (107) and plate appearances (384) was established back in 2019. However, he's been an above-average offensive catcher for most of his career, particularly from 2021-23 when he put up an .805 OPS.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
13
2
16
4
14
5
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
5
1
4
4
4
4
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+3%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+13%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+1%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+4%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .775 247 29 12 33 1 .222 .340 .435
Since 2022vs Right .752 626 78 29 88 0 .231 .310 .442
2024vs Left .714 94 11 2 6 0 .237 .372 .342
2024vs Right .634 230 24 7 18 0 .193 .283 .351
2023vs Left .792 86 10 7 20 0 .205 .279 .513
2023vs Right .783 215 28 10 33 0 .237 .326 .458
2022vs Left .826 67 8 3 7 1 .226 .373 .453
2022vs Right .863 181 26 12 37 0 .272 .326 .537
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+3%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+1%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+12%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+7%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .769 434 54 21 59 0 .231 .329 .440
Since 2022Away .748 439 53 20 62 1 .227 .308 .441
2024Home .661 160 18 6 16 0 .200 .313 .348
2024Away .655 164 17 3 8 0 .210 .305 .350
2023Home .833 142 20 8 26 0 .244 .345 .488
2023Away .745 159 18 9 27 0 .214 .283 .462
2022Home .829 132 16 7 17 0 .252 .333 .496
2022Away .885 116 18 8 27 1 .270 .345 .540
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Danny Jansen compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.66
 
BB Rate
12.3%
 
K Rate
18.8%
 
BABIP
.227
 
ISO
.144
 
AVG
.205
 
OBP
.309
 
SLG
.349
 
OPS
.658
 
wOBA
.297
 
Exit Velocity
86.6 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
28.6%
 
Barrels/PA
4.3%
 
Expected BA
.201
 
Expected SLG
.332
 
Sprint Speed
22.3 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
30.5%
 
Line Drive %
16.4%
 
Fly Ball %
53.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Jansen has some of the most pop from the catcher position in the league, but unfortunately for him, things on him will not stop popping and he has not been able to stay on the field. His career high for plate appearances came in his rookie season, but he has since missed time in each of the past three seasons as the wear and tear of catching has its costs. His latest injury was a finger fracture on a foul tip while behind the plate which ended his season in early September. He had already set a career high in homers and RBIs before the injury and looked to be on pace for a 20 homer season before the injury. Jansen's approach is rather pull intensive and he is looking to elevate and celebrate on most swings. Both his Pull% and his FB% have been over 50% in each of the past two seasons and that is not expected to change as Jansen plays his final year before free agency while trying to get a nice payday with his next contract given his other flaws. Contract year hope?
Jansen had two month-long stints on the injured list during 2022 due to an oblique strain and a broken finger, and he finished the regular season having played in 72 games. He started behind the plate Opening Day but didn't appear to have much job security with Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno also in the mix for playing time, but Jansen produced an .855 OPS with 15 home runs and 44 RBI, and he also improved his strikeout rate nearly four percentage points. He now has a .253 ISO over the past two years, which covers a stretch of 142 contests. Kirk also delivered a strong offensive campaign with a .285/.372/.415 slash line in 139 contests while splitting time between catcher and designated hitter. Jansen's availability is somewhat of a question mark since he's missed significant time each of the past two seasons, but when available he's hit with power. The Blue Jays sent Moreno to the Diamondbacks, though the major return piece, Daulton Varsho, can also play catcher. Still, Kirk and Jansen should be Toronto's primary options behind the plate in 2023, with Jansen likely to fill the shorter side of the timeshare.
It seemed like the Jays were destined to make a move at catcher, as Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and prospect Gabriel Moreno all seemed like candidates for playing time in 2022. However, Kirk may be a designated hitter, at least early in the year and Moreno won't be rushed to the majors, so Jansen still retains value even in a crowded situation. He hit .316/.373/.750 with eight home runs in 83 plate appearances from July on after missing time with an injury. Jansen's glove is good enough to keep him in the lineup over half the time, but if the improved offensive output from the end of last season carries over, he could be an excellent fantasy value, especially in two-catcher leagues.
Jansen is entering his fourth season at the big-league level, but has yet to approach 700 career PA. Sample size studies will tell you that past performance does not guarantee future results, and that is a good thing for Jansen because he has done little outside of a hot September 2019. The 2020 season saw him become more accepting of his walks, and somehow hit three of his eight homers off Tyler Glasnow (two in the Wild Card Game) but otherwise did little else at the plate. He mostly hunts for fastballs, which really leaves him susceptible to anything offspeed (.094 career batting average). The expected stats do not make us excited about a 2021 breakout from the young catcher, but the Jays can afford to give him time while the rest of their young studs carry the load. You can roster him as an endgame second catcher to see if the next few hundred plate appearances are better than the first 700.
Jansen entered last season with fewer than 100 MLB plate appearances to his name, but the sterling plate skills and improving pop he showed as a prospect made him an appealing fantasy target amid the barren catcher landscape. The juiced ball ultimately made many catchers more useful than expected, but Jansen wasn't one of them. In fact, he was actively harmful in fantasy. His .207 average placed him 29th among the 30 backstops with 300-plus plate appearances, and his 13 homers weren't special in the 2019 context. The disappointing numbers will drop Jansen's draft-day price, but he shouldn't be dismissed yet. His 81.3 percent contact rate and 42.4 hard-hit rate ranked highly among catchers and offer hope that he'll push his average to a more palatable level with some likely BABIP improvement. Additionally, a Jays lineup overflowing with young talent should lift Jansen's RBI and run ceilings compared to 2019.
A plus contributor at the desolate catcher position is a pipe dream for many. Jansen was a net positive during his time with Toronto in 2018, making him a popular late-round target this draft season. He smacked three homers, giving him 15 total across two levels, and posted a 115 wRC+, which if you lower the threshold to just 50 plate appearances, made Jansen a top-10 rate contributor at the position. Jansen also displayed quality plate skills with a manageable 17.9 K% and 9.5 BB%. The problem is that when he's everyone's favorite cheap catcher, eventually he will no longer be cheap. Drafters, especially those in two-catcher leagues, will continue to push him higher and higher as we get closer to Opening Day. It's possible Jansen will be worth it even after some helium, as he's firmly atop the depth chart with Russell Martin traded to Los Angeles. Just be sure to have some other names at the ready in case you get sniped.
More Fantasy News
Smacks ninth home run
CBoston Red Sox
September 12, 2024
Jansen went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and a walk in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
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Set to make history
CBoston Red Sox
August 24, 2024
Jansen will be the catcher Monday when the continuation of a suspended game between the Red Sox and Blue Jays resumes, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports. The two teams will continue a game that was suspended June 27.
ANALYSIS
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Homers in loss
CBoston Red Sox
August 7, 2024
Jansen went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Royals.
ANALYSIS
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Contributes to win
CBoston Red Sox
August 1, 2024
Jansen started at catcher and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday's 3-2 extra-inning win over the Mariners.
ANALYSIS
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Makes team debut
CBoston Red Sox
July 29, 2024
Jansen started at designated hitter and went 2-for-3 with a walk in Sunday's 8-2 loss to the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Nearing deal with Tampa Bay
CFree Agent
December 6, 2024
The Rays are nearing a contract agreement with Jansen, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
ANALYSIS
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears that it will be a one-year deal. Jansen, who will turn 30 in April, slashed a disappointing .205/.309/.349 with nine home runs over 92 contests between the Blue Jays and Red Sox last season. However, he put up an .805 OPS across the three previous seasons and should give the Rays an offensive upgrade at catcher as long as he can stay healthy.
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