Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen has bone fracture in wrist, could miss opening day

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen has a fractured bone in his right wrist and could miss opening day, manager John Schneider said Friday.

Jansen sustained the injury to the pisiform bone when he was hit by a 93.4 m.p.h. fastball from Pittsburgh’s Carmen Mlodzinski during the eighth inning of Wednesday’s spring training game.

“It’s a small bone between the hand and wrist,” Schneider said.

Schneider said Jansen is unlikely for the March 28 opener at Tampa Bay.

“He’ll have to catch and ramp back up and hit,” Schneider said. “Hopefully the first couple weeks of the season he’ll be back.”

Alejandro Kirk is likely to get a bulk of the time at catcher while Jansen is out.

The 28-year-old Jansen hit .228 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 83 games last season. He was sidelined between May 24 and June 13 by and strained left groin, and his season ended with a broken right middle finger sustained Sept. 1 when hit by a foul ball during a game against Colorado.

Jansen agreed to a $5.2 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration. He is eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.

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