TORONTO — As Derek Law ran out from the Dodger Stadium bullpen to the mound for his big-league debut on April 15, 2016, catcher Buster Posey was already there waiting. The two had worked together a little bit at San Francisco Giants camp that spring, but the 25-year-old rookie and the former MVP and three-time World Series champion still weren’t very familiar with one another. All the typical rookie emotions were flooding through Law when Posey approached and delivered a very simple little message.
“He’s like, ‘Hey, listen, you want to shake me, shake me. Not a big deal,’” recalls Law, now a Toronto Blue Jays reliever. “And I was thinking, ‘Uh, I don’t know if I’m going to do that.’ But he’s like, ‘Seriously, you’re going to throw your game. I’m just going to throw down signs. If you don’t like it, then don’t throw it.’ That was the biggest thing for me.”
The bit of selflessness from a superstar who could very easily have thrown his weight around resonated with Law, who sees a similar generosity and deft touch in handling pitchers from Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire, the Blue Jays’ talented backstop duo.
Over the course of this developmental 2019 campaign, Law has seen “a drastic difference” in both, sensing what he describes as “a pure confidence back there now,” doing all they can to support the pitcher on the mound. “In the beginning of the year I feel like they were hesitant,” he says. “Obviously they were learning me and I was learning them. Now, if I shake them, they give me the pitch that I’m thinking of right away.”
“With Buster, he was just really good at that,” Law continues. “He’s good at knowing what you wanted to throw if you shook, really good at reading the hitter’s swings. You can tell that’s what these guys are starting to do now the more that they’re playing.”
In many ways, the growth of Jansen and McGuire is one of the Blue Jays’ most important success stories of the year, a pair of 24-year-olds each showing tremendous acuity and feel for the most demanding position on the field.
Defensively, they grade out as above-average defenders, separated by mere percentage points in the club’s proprietary pitch-framing metrics, while rating well in publicly available data, as well. Their blocking and throwing is strong, too.
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At the plate, Jansen, a right-handed hitter, has a much better track record of production but endured a long dry spell this season before rebounding, while McGuire, a left-handed hitter, slumped at triple-A early but has impressed since an August promotion.
How to maximize both of them next year and beyond is the subject of much debate within the Blue Jays front office right now, although the club is positioned with some enviable and intriguing options at catcher. They could have both compete for the full-time role, and manager Charlie Montoyo said recently having one of them win the job outright would be the preferred option. They could examine trade options this winter to see if one can be flipped to plug another hole on the roster, knowing Luke Maile, another excellent defender, is still around, too.
Or the Blue Jays could get creative and run some sort of platoon.
“It’s a good problem to have,” catching coach John Schneider says when asked if a successful job share between Jansen and McGuire was possible. “I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision right now. At some point in time maybe people will do that, similar to how bullpens are used, to where you’re trying to get the best match up all the time. It’s not the same because you have two catchers on a team. You can’t just flip them in and out like that in case of injury. So I don’t know. I’m glad I don’t make that call right now.”
That there’s a conversation about what to do behind the plate speaks to the gains both have made this year.
Jansen changed his stance behind the plate this season, moved his glove closer to his body and altered his throwing, opting to rely more on his athleticism than on cheating to speed up his body. According to Baseball Savant’s Runs From Extra Strikes metric, which converts extra strikes to runs saved, Jansen is tied for seventh at the majors at plus-7.
In a more limited sample McGuire, long praised for his quiet fluidity behind the plate, is already a plus-one in runs saved. His primary growth has come in terms of his on-field leadership, executing game plans and adjusting to what happens while on the field, and at the plate, where he has a .908 OPS in 101 plate appearances.
The metrics also show that Jansen is more adept at stealing strikes at the inner and outer edges of the plate, while McGuire is better at the top and bottom of the zones. To that end, the Blue Jays could match each to the starter’s profile on a given day.
The flip side is what to do if the offensive matchup dictates a conflicting lineup decision. And that’s without considering the effects of irregular playing time on the player, an issue Schneider says impacts a catcher’s feel and ability to think at game speed.
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“You’ve got to do your work in between, you’ve got to stay sharp with your skills, try to be as comfortable as you can with the guy’s stuff that’s coming at you, which is the hardest part when you’re not playing every day,” he says. “It’s kind of like you’re starting from scratch and you’ve got to be really good at what you’re doing and there’s less room for error when you’re not in there every day. That would be something you’d have to stay on top of.”
No matter how it plays out, big-league surplus at such a pivotal position with more talent coming in the minor-leagues — prospects Riley Adams, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno all impressed this season — is a luxury for the Blue Jays front office.
And their skill-sets are a luxury for Blue Jays pitchers.
“One of the tougher things in baseball that people don’t really understand is these guys are catching guys that they’ve never seen, trying to be on the same page as them,” says Law. “It can be kind of difficult, especially big situations, guy at second and you’ve thrown out a bunch of signs. That can be kind of difficult. These guys learned that really quickly. Reese caught me in Buffalo a little bit and after the first week we were clicking like that. Same with Danny. First week was here and there, we were scattered and then it just clicked. They should definitely take pride in that because it’s not that easy to do.
“And they block everything, too, which is unbelievable.”
