For Ryu Hyun-jin “Monster” Kim, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, who has been pitching well since returning from injury, the news is not good: his best friend will be out for a while.
“Jansen was diagnosed with a fractured middle finger in his right hand after being hit on the finger by a foul ball,” MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB), and Canadian media outlet Sportsnet reported on Feb. 2 (KST).
Jansen appeared as the team’s No. 5 hitter and catcher in the 2023 Major League Baseball away game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA, and formed a battery with Ryu Hyun-jin, who was the starting pitcher that day. With the score tied at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Jansen hit a two-run home run to left field to give Ryu the win.
But the very next inning, Jansen was injured. In the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and second and two outs, Toronto brought in left-hander Hennessis Cabrera to face left-hander Brandon Rogers. Two pitches later, a foul ball hit Jansen in the right hand. Jansen complained of pain and came off the bench to get checked out.
Jansen was eventually replaced by pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk in the top of the seventh inning to end the game. After the game, Toronto manager John Schneider said, “Jansen suffered a fractured bone in the middle finger of his right hand,” according to Sportsnet. Toronto will call up catcher Tyler Heinemann, who has spent four seasons in the big leagues, to replace Jansen.
Jansen’s absence is obviously bad for Toronto. After struggling defensively in his 2018 debut, Jansen blossomed at the plate last year, hitting .260 with 15 homers, 44 RBIs and an OPS of .855 in 72 games. He followed that up with a career-high 17 home runs in 86 games this year. He was so highly regarded that he was ranked as the ninth-best catcher by MLB Network heading into the season.
It’s a big hole to fill, especially for his best friend, Ryu Hyun-jin. In 181 big league games, he’s played 41 games with Jansen, the same number of games as A.J. Ellis, who was the Dodgers’ designated hitter. His career numbers were solid, too, with a 3.47 ERA in 215 1/3 innings. It’s even more significant that he had been declining in Toronto after his peak with the Dodgers.온라인카지노
Notably, Ryu, who had a whopping nine different catchers and batters in his time with the Dodgers, has worked almost exclusively with Jansen since joining Toronto. Reese Maguire, who played the second-most games with Jansen (11 games, 60⅔ innings), left the team before the 2022 season, and he and Kirk, who is likely to be the starter after Jansen’s injury, combined in just one game (four innings) last year.
Ryu is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in six starts this season. After undergoing Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament splicing) in June last year, Ryu made his comeback at home against the Baltimore Orioles on May 2 after more than a year of rehabilitation. He overcame defensive miscues and bullpen struggles to reel off three straight wins since his comeback loss.
In his most recent start, on April 2 against Colorado, the right-hander threw 76 pitches over five innings, allowing four hits (one homer), two walks and three strikeouts. He overcame an error to earn the win, but Cabrera hit a game-tying three-run homer off Rogers in the bottom of the sixth after Jansen was injured. However, the team went on to win 13-9, extending their winning streak to five games on Ryu’s day.
With this kind of success, Ryu is expected to be a key part of the team’s postseason plans. However, if Jansen’s condition is serious, he could miss the rest of the season, or worse, the postseason. If that happens, Ryu will have to start working with a new set of catchers. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on Jansen’s condition.