Danny Jansen might be the busiest man in the Blue Jays’ camp

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This article was published 29/03/2022 (1355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUNEDIN, Fla. When Danny Jansen married Alexis, Rowdy Tellez pronounced them man and wife.

And that was fine. After all, the Blue Jays catcher had given Tellez, a long-time teammate now with the Milwaukee Brewers, plenty of time to prepare, including the time to obtain certification as a marriage officiant. The nuptials had to be deferred for a year because of the pandemic.

“Rowdy did an awesome job, crushed it,” Jansen says of the Jan. 2 wedding. “He had me in tears.”

The newly knotted couple flew to Saint Lucia for what was supposed to be a six-day honeymoon. And it was lovely, in a secluded spot, romantic. But before their flight back to Florida, the Jansens had to take a COVID test to re-enter the U.S.

Both tested positive. Though asymptomatic, they were required to self-isolate for another 11 days. They were cooped up in their hotel room after scrambling to make dog-sitting arrangements. “We had a little outdoor area but you couldn’t get any sun, there was no view. There was no TV. Thank God we’d brought iPads … we watched moves and moves and movies.”

It was a how-to on union compatibility before the one-month anniversary.

So far, so good.

Under normal conditions — the compelled 99-day baseball furlough dispelled all normalcy — Jansen, who turns 27 next month and is among the longest-tenured Jays, would have spent his time boning up on the team’s new pitchers, via video, arriving at spring training in possession of some catcher familiarity with the incoming arms. But there was no access to the team’s swish development complex, of course, where all the analytic and techno bells and whistles were in the “lab.”

“During the lockout there wasn’t much video,” Jansen says.

At best, there were some conversations with the likes of Kevin Gausman and, later, Yusei Kikuchi. More with pitching coach Pete Walker and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann. Jansen aimed to hit the ground running for a compacted training camp that would include a marquee starting rotation and some 30 relievers vying for jobs.

“(We’re) trying to see where can we improve with this guy, where can we try to keep that guy on the plate more,” Jansen says. “Then it’s trial and error. You get to see them compete, what they do, what gets them back on if they’re missing a little bit. Like, with Kikuchi, I felt like it was his slider. It’s really about getting the reps in the game and then going from there.”

For the last couple of years, certainly since the departure of Russel Martin, Jansen has been the busiest man at spring training, pulling on the tools of ignorance, as the equipment is colloquially known. Of course, there’s no ignorance involved in backstopping. The catcher usually commands the tenor of the game. He has to be the most studious in preparation. Something of a shrink too, in handling pitchers.

“A little bit,” Jansen agrees. “Everybody handles themselves different. Maybe when stuff’s going wrong or you need to give them a break, go out there and talk to them, just to reset them, bring them back into the game. That’s just part of the job and a fun part, really, is building the trust in the clubhouse early. That level of communication so you can go out there and talk about what you need to talk about. It’s trust.”

It’s also symbiotic, which is why certain pitchers prefer certain catchers as a battery mate. Robbie Ray found a groove last season with Alejandro Kirk. Some moundsmen might shake off the pitch a catcher puts down but generally they’re receptive.

“It goes both ways. It’s what can I do to make him at his best? Target setup, try to be a big presence. I try to be very visual for them with my set-ups. And I value what they have to say, obviously. All right, maybe (the pitcher) wants me in a different spot for a certain pitch. If it goes the other way, they’ll listen. They are all-in on trying to get ahead. That’s our big thing here, trying to get ahead so we can use their nasty stuff late, pounce, put the hitter away.”

The reconstituted starting rotation has Jansen in awe. “Very impressed, with the new guys and the veteran presence we have now, and having three guys back that I caught last year, I’m familiar with them and building off of last year is great. I’m superexcited for the starting staff, just what they all bring to the table and offer to this team. With the bullpen, a lot of the guys are coming back, so you have that relationship already, you kind of know what they want to do. Going into spring training camps, we already have a game plan, just building off of last year.”

The Jays will carry three catchers to start the season: Jansen, Kirk and Reese McGuire. That isn’t optimum. McGuire is out of options, so he’d have to clear waivers if sent to Triple-A, and another team would likely grab him. To include McGuire in a potential trade package later, Toronto would have to protect him. Both Kirk and Jansen will see duty at DH, one of the few jobs as yet unclaimed, and more open with the departure of Randal Grichuk in a trade last week.

“It’s not awkward,” Jansen says of the competition behind the plate. “I can speak for everybody: When our name is on the lineup, we’re ready to go — and ready to go when we’re not playing, too. That’s just something that’s built through this culture. I’ve played with Reese and Kirkie now for a couple of years and it’s just about picking each other up and being there, ready to play at any time. That’s the most important thing, being prepared.”

With so much focus on the defensive load he carries, hitting can be an afterthought. That’s something Jansen wants to change. His batting average has been on the lowish end but he has reasonable pop in that bat — 11 home runs last season — and his hitting picked up considerably later in the year, with a .310 average in September and October.

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“I’ve always prepared a lot for defence,” Jansen says. “I think I can definitely improve on how I prepare offensively as well.”

To that end, he closely studied Marcus Semien’s preparation regime in 2021, along with the approaches of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. He’s confident about picking up where he left off, in that hitting zone.

“I’m seeing the ball well. I’m staying in my legs, that’s a big thing for me. I’m just trying to stay aggressive and really recognize spin early and do some damage, but also stay within myself.

“I feel good really good now, after how I finished last year. It’s something that I’ve continuously tried to build upon and master. Like, who am I? What are my strengths? I’ve started to figure that out.”

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno