TAMPA -- Before Friday¡¯s series opener, Rays manager Kevin Cash offered a vote of confidence in Danny Jansen.
After signing as a free agent in the offseason and earning rave reviews throughout Spring Training, the veteran catcher was off to, as he put it, ¡°not the ideal start.¡± Specifically, he entered Friday¡¯s game with just one hit in 26 at-bats. Two weeks into the season, he and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt were a combined 1-for-37.
Cash didn¡¯t think it would last, citing the number of Jansen¡¯s ¡°just-misses¡± that could have been home runs. He chose to remain positive. So did Jansen.
¡°He's a good player with a proven track record,¡± Cash said. ¡°He will find his way out of this.¡±
That process might have begun a few hours later, as Jansen went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a tiebreaking two-run homer off Bryce Elder in the Rays¡¯ 6-3 win over the Braves at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Jansen also made a big impact defensively, guiding starter Taj Bradley through six strong innings with seven strikeouts. But his offensive breakout was a welcome one, as he turned in his first three-hit game and first game with multiple extra-base hits since May 20, 2024, which was also his last game with at least four RBIs.
¡°I've definitely throughout my career gone through stretches and stuff, so I'd like to say that I've learned some stuff through those stretches,¡± Jansen said. ¡°Didn't make this one any easier.¡±
Nor did the fact that it came at the beginning of the season. The average next to Jansen¡¯s name on Friday afternoon was .038. His OPS was .232.
But Jansen¡¯s previous struggles and experience informed his perspective on the slump. He was having good at-bats. He had nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six). And it was still so early in a long season.
¡°I was putting the ball forward. I wasn't punching out every at-bat and stuff. So I had confidence from that, too,¡± Jansen said. ¡°Wasn't really like squaring stuff up, kind of clipping stuff, but could still build off that. That's what I was doing -- slowly.¡±
Besides, Jansen prides himself on his defense more than anything else, and the Rays had nothing but good things to say about his work behind the plate. Cash raved about his pitch blocking, his investment in Tampa Bay¡¯s pitchers and his constant communication.
That was on display Friday night, too, as Jansen helped Bradley sail through five efficient, dominant innings after a 32-pitch first. The right-hander gave up just one run while walking two batters in the first, then he permitted only three hits without a walk while throwing just 61 pitches the rest of the way.
¡°That¡¯s the battery, man,¡± Bradley added. ¡°He's catching me, rooting me on even through those rough at-bats and stuff. So I just encourage him with that. He got that [home run]. He clipped him. I was excited about that.¡±
It briefly looked like the Rays gave Bradley a lead before Jansen came to the plate, as Christopher Morel was initially ruled safe when he dashed home from third base on Kameron Misner¡¯s grounder to first base in the fourth. But a replay review overturned the call, so Jansen stepped into the batter¡¯s box with the game tied, a runner on first and two outs.
Jansen jumped on the first pitch he saw from Elder, an elevated 90.4 mph sinker, and launched it a Statcast-projected 358 feet with an exit velocity of 100.2 mph.
¡°Big swing of the bat right there after a tight play,¡± Cash said. ¡°For him to quickly change our emotion from frustration to make it 3-1 was huge. All the confidence in the world that Danny was going to get going, and tonight, I think it looked like he started that.¡±
Morel ended a 40-game homer drought of his own in the sixth, smashing a projected 387-foot solo shot to left off Elder as part of a three-hit, two-steal performance. It was Morel¡¯s first home run since last Aug. 23, his first three-hit game with the Rays and his first career game with multiple hits and multiple steals.
But Jansen wasn¡¯t done, either.
He came through in the sixth, knocking an RBI single to center, then delivered an RBI ground-rule double over the left-center-field fence in the eighth.
It was just the kind of night Jansen had been waiting for, the one his manager saw coming.
¡°It felt great. I mean, it's definitely been a grind, and it's not going to stop. That's how baseball is, right?¡± he said. ¡°Not the ideal start, but I think just the constant belief in myself and from my teammates definitely helps.¡±