Red Sox Catcher Ready To Put ‘Stamp’ In History Against Blue Jays

Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed on Friday that Danny Jansen would be behind the plate for Boston during Monday’s continuation of the suspended June 26 contest against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jansen, acquired by Boston in late July before the trade deadline, was in the batter’s box for Toronto, facing a 0-1 count from Kutter Crawford in the top of the second inning when play was stopped due to severe rain.

The Blue Jays will need to send a pinch hitter to the plate when play resumes on Monday afternoon in the first game of the day-night doubleheader between the two clubs. Jansen will take over catching duties for Reese McGuire, who is currently playing with Triple-A Worcester after being designated for assignment by the Red Sox one day after acquiring Jansen.

While being the first player in MLB history to appear for both teams in the same game is undoubtedly a remarkable record to put your name on, Jansen is more focused on helping the Red Sox win and close the gap in the wild-card race.

“I’m just going to put my head down and play,” Jansen told reporters, according to MassLive’s Christopher Berry. “It’s definitely a cool thing. But at the end of the day, I want to win a ball game and do everything I can to prepare for it. But the goal is to put your stamp in the game any way you can. So for mine to be this, that will be cool.”

After being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Red Sox are 4 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the final wild card spot in the American League. Boston and Kansas City both have two games on Monday, which could help the Red Sox make up ground in the race.