DUNEDIN, Fla. -- You rip it, they'll wear it.

The Blue Jays¡¯ catching tandem of Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk wear their bruises proudly. They¡¯re badges of honor, ID cards for the catcher¡¯s club, tickets to the block party.

Blocking pitches is not baseball¡¯s sexiest assignment, though. You won¡¯t see blocked pitches in highlight loops, and this surely isn¡¯t the second story you¡¯re reading today about pitch blocking. Just don¡¯t tell that to Jansen, who lights up when it¡¯s mentioned.

¡°There¡¯s nothing better than wearing a ball,¡± Jansen said. ¡°Wherever it may be -- it might be your neck -- it sucks, but at the same time, you¡¯re preventing a guy from going to the next base. It¡¯s great, man. Who wouldn¡¯t want that?¡±

Nobody in their right mind, that¡¯s who. But catchers are different, and with Statcast¡¯s new Catcher Blocking Leaderboard, we can see that the Blue Jays¡¯ catchers aren¡¯t just committed to blocking balls, they¡¯re the best duo in baseball. Jansen was tied for eighth in MLB last season with 8 Blocks Above Average, while Kirk, who made blocking a major focus last offseason, tied for fourth with 12. Only Adley Rutschman, Jose Trevino and J.T. Realmuto were rated better.

¡°We take pride in this,¡± Jansen said. ¡°We¡¯re going to do everything we can do to block that ball. Rip it.¡±

Here¡¯s what the Blue Jays have to say about their quiet -- often painful -- strength:

The 'catching culture'

Jansen: ¡°It¡¯s something that¡¯s always been ingrained in my head as such an important piece through every level I¡¯ve been at. Being a guy who has spent so much time on defense, I always wanted that to be a huge part of my game. With how the game¡¯s going, how they want to worry about stealing strikes more, you see a lot of balls getting picked. I still really believe in getting myself in the best position to block.¡±

Manager John Schneider: ¡°Jano takes a ton of pride in it. He¡¯s been working on trying to be a bit more narrow in his setup this camp. He¡¯s very aware of blocking and I think that takes away from some of the other things when he gets too wide. He loves it. It¡¯s got to be a mentality and the guys buy in.¡±

Kirk (via interpreter): ¡°Like receiving and calling the game, blocking is one of the important things I really focus on. It¡¯s one of my priorities, to make sure the runner does not advance. I¡¯m always focused on this.¡±

Which pitch is hardest to block?

Jansen: ¡°A changeup. A low one where you want to try to receive it. A splitter, I think, is one of the harder ones and it just takes reps. [Kevin] Gausman has a great splitter, and that one with the sharp bite at the end. But you just work on it. I don¡¯t care if I take it off the arm. That¡¯s part of the job. It¡¯s what I signed up for.¡±

Kirk: ¡°Sliders, especially the ones on the outside. You¡¯ve got to angle [your body] to make sure you keep that ball out front. The slider outside, it¡¯s the most difficult.¡±

What¡¯s the value of pitch blocking?

Jansen: ¡°As a pitcher, if you¡¯re comfortable throwing a ball in the dirt with two strikes, making it a nasty pitch and bouncing it? You know that we¡¯ve got you. It goes without saying how important that is.¡±

Gausman: ¡°That was a question mark [entering 2022]. I thought both of them were unbelievable last year at blocking pitches. I think I only threw one wild pitch, and it was a splitter that kind of took off and had a mind of its own. I feel like, if I throw it down in the zone, these guys are going to block it. I think you¡¯re going to see a lot more guys trying to run once they see a ball down in the zone this year.¡±

Is blocking about technique ¡­ or simply accepting the pain?

Schneider: ¡°It¡¯s both. They¡¯ve kind of gotten that part out of it now. When you start catching it¡¯s like, ¡®OK, I¡¯m just going to wear it.¡¯ But skill is involved, for sure.¡±

Kirk: ¡°Before the game and in practice, you work on technique. When it¡¯s game time, you don¡¯t think about it. You just block the ball. You know it¡¯s going to hurt, but it happens naturally.¡±

Jansen: ¡°Both. Guys block differently. Kirk and I block differently. I¡¯m on two feet, a traditional stance and I kick down. Some guys slide out. You just have to be willing to put your body in front of it, and there¡¯s nothing better than wearing a ball.¡±