Catcher Danny Jansen suffered a right hamstring strain that forced him out of Sunday’s 6-3 Blue Jays loss to the Astros. Jansen was hurt running the bases trying to beat out a fielder’s choice in the third inning, and Reese McGuire took over at catcher for the top of the fourth. Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other reporters that Jansen would receive tests both yesterday and today to determine the extent of the strain.
With Alejandro Kirk already on the 10-day injured list, losing Jansen to the IL would leave Toronto with a catching depth chart of McGuire and (in all likelihood) Riley Adams, who is hitting .250/.410/.600 over 78 plate appearances at Triple-A this season. Adams had never played at the Triple-A level prior to this season, and he doesn’t officially have any big league experience — the Blue Jays called Adams up for a three-day cup of coffee on the active roster in early May, though Adams didn’t appear in any games. While McGuire is the more experienced option, his struggles at the plate over the last two seasons would perhaps mean that McGuire and Adams would be deployed in a platoon, as the youngster’s Triple-A production certainly seems to warrant a look against Major League pitching.
More from the Jays…
- George Springer is making “extremely encouraging” progress in his recovery from a quad strain, GM Ross Atkins told reporters (including Matheson, TSN’s Scott Mitchell and Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling) as part of a series of updates on injured Blue Jays players. Springer has been performing running drills over the last two days, and Atkins implied that the outfielder is “very close” to heading out on a minor league rehab assignment. This is Springer’s second quad injury of the season, and combined with those injuries and an oblique issue, the prized free agent signing has appeared in only four games in 2021.
- Speaking of rehab assignments, Cavan Biggio began his assignment at Triple-A yesterday. A cervical spine ligament sprain sent Biggio to the 10-day IL on May 22, but it looks like he’ll be able to rejoin the Jays sometime this week. The injury absence has underlined an overall tough season for Biggio, who has a -0.3 fWAR through 39 games and 151 PA due to a lack of hitting (.205/.315/.315) and some defensive struggles as Toronto’s regular third baseman.
- Thomas Hatch threw two scoreless innings for Triple-A Buffalo yesterday, as the right-hander resumed a rehab assignment after missing two weeks with what Atkins described as “mild tightness in his side.” Hatch is working his way back from an elbow impingement suffered during Spring Training that has kept the righty out of any Major League action this season. Hatch worked 16 of 17 games as a reliever in his 2020 rookie season, but Atkins said the team is still planning to build Hatch up as a starter.
- Ryan Borucki is on the verge of beginning a throwing program, and is no longer feeling any pain in his forearm. A left flexor strain went Borucki to the injured list in mid-May, representing yet another injury setback for a southpaw who missed most of the 2019 due to elbow issues.