BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Blue Jays are about to get their heartbeat back.
Catcher Danny Jansen belted a grand slam in his first rehab game with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Wednesday night and missed another by about a foot and a half Thursday, doubling off the left-field wall at Sahlen Field and driving in two more runs.
“I mean, good,” Buffalo manager Casey Candaele said when asked how he thought Jansen has looked. “He’s driven in six runs for us in two days so it’s, you know, it’s good, it’s big.”
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
While the swing could be a big thing for the Jays — Alejandro Kirk has started the season 6-for-41 with no extra-base hits — it’s more about how he’s feeling in the crouch for Jansen,
“I definitely want some reps behind the plate,” he said after catching six innings of the Bisons’ rain-shortened 6-3 loss to Rochester on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s been a month (since I’ve caught in a game), and it was kind of what I expected getting back there. It sped up on me a little bit, but I’m fine with that. I’ll just take today and move on and continue learning and getting better.”
The rust showed in Jansen’s game as three Red Wings stole second and none of Jansen’s throws made it to the bag on the fly.
He plans on catching both Saturday and Sunday afternoon against Rochester. Saturday’s game is scheduled to be started by Alek Manoah.
The Wisconsinite, who is likely to be back in the big leagues to celebrate his 29th birthday Monday, seems to be more than ready at the plate. His .786 OPS last year — with 17 home runs in barely half a season’s worth of plate appearances — was fourth-best on the team, only two percentage points behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
“I feel good, definitely feel good,” Jansen said after going 1-for-4 Thursday. “It’s nice getting some at-bats and competing again. I’m looking forward to some more at-bats just to continue on feeling a little bit more comfortable.”
Those reps behind the plate are more important and the Jays’ rehabbing relievers were glad to see their regular receiver.
“We’ve been doing it a long time together,” said Jordan Romano, who tested his once-inflamed elbow with 18 pitches, only eight of which were strikes. “It was great having him back there calling the pitches, it was awesome.”
“It was a little weird,” said right-hander Erik Swanson, who tested his once-tight forearm with 17 pitches (12 strikes). “I hadn’t thrown to Jano all spring, hadn’t thrown to him since last year and then doing it in Buffalo was kinda fun.”
Mike Wilner
is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the
baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness
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