Danny

Jansen

Jansen opened the third inning with a 377-foot (102.7 mph EV) solo shot off of Jack Flaherty that pushed the Rangers’ lead to 2-0 and ignited a three-run rally. That would be his only hit in four at-bats on the night. For the season, the 31-year-old backstop is slashing an underwhelming .211/.282/.380 with a pair of homers and eight RBI.

It’s his first three-hit game since last July 5. Jansen started the Rangers’ first two games, sat in favor of Kyle Higashioka in the next two and then was back in there tonight. The Rangers made it sound like the plan was for Jansen to get a bit more playing time than Higashioka behind the plate, but neither seems like an option outside of two-catcher AL-only leagues.

Jansen is up to seven RBI with his homer and four doubles in 27 at-bats this spring. He and Kyle Higashioka project to divvy up playing time pretty equally behind the dish in Texas, but that could always change if one of the two exceeds expectations.

The deal is now official. Jansen takes over as the Rangers primary backstop after the club decided to move on from Jonah Heim earlier this offseason. The 30-year-old backstop hit just .215/.321/.399 with 14 round-trippers across 337 plate appearances between the Brewers and Rays this past season. He’s no longer a relevant fantasy option at this stage of his career but it’s a decent landing spot if he’s going to put together a bounce-back campaign.

The deal includes incentives that could take it as high as $15.5 million. The 30-year-old backstop slashed an underwhelming .215/.321/.399 with 14 homers and 36 RBI in 337 plate appearances between the Rays and Brewers in 2025. When he takes the field on Opening Day, he’ll be playing for his fifth different ballclub since the start of the 2024 campaign.

The Brewers also declined their half of Danny Jansen’s mutual option for 2026 making him a free agent. No surprises here. Peralta has been the subject of trade rumors since Milwaukee was bounced from the playoffs in the NLCS by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Woodruff return on a new deal, but he should have plenty of interest on the open market.

Since the Mets also lost, the Reds won the final NL Wild Card in spite of the defeat. Jansen’s homer off Brady Singer in the fourth gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead. They picked up one more run that inning, and neither team scored over the rest of the afternoon. Jansen is 5-for-9 with two homers and three walks in his last three starts, putting him at .254/.346/.433 in 25 games since being acquired by the Brewers. He didn’t figure to be someone who would start games in the postseason, but with the way he’s swinging, the Brewers might need to consider plugging him in against lefties.

Contreras gets a well-earned break for the second straight game to close out the regular season after playing through a left finger injury for most of the year. It’ll be Danny Jansen handling the catching duties in this one.

Contreras has been in a bit of a funk at the plate over the past week, so the Brewers will give him a night off to reset and clear his head. Danny Jansen will start behind the dish and will bat eighth for the Brewers against Reds’ left-hander Andrew Abbott on Saturday.

Jansen’s homer off Jeremiah Estrada in the top of the ninth upped the Brewers’ lead from one run to two. He’s gotten a little more playing time than expected since taking over as William Contreras’ backup and has hit .230/.314/.377 in 70 plate appearances.