Diagnosing Danny Jansen’s framing woes

It could be a simple fix. It could also be more complicated.

In 2024, Rays catchers hit a collective .192/.273/.315, a full 41% below league average, while putting up the eighth lowest wins above replacement (fWAR) in the league. So in the offseason the Rays signed veteran catcher Danny Jansen to a one year, $8.5 million deal (with a mutual option for 2026).

Jansen once had a strong record of positive outcomes on both sides of the baseball, even averaging a 121 wRC+ from 2021-23. But things fell off a cliff in 2024 for him, as he posted just an 89 wRC+ and was worth -3 framing runs above average, per Statcast.

But so far in 2025, Jansen hasn’t bounced back, and is currently sitting at a -0.1 fWAR.

While he’s walked over 18% of the time, the hits and the power haven’t appeared yet for Jansen. The more worriesome side of the equation has been his framing, though, which seems to have deteriorated further, despite (or perhaps because of?) a change he made this season to his catching stance.

Yes, we are early in the season, but going into Tuesday night’s contest, Jansen carried third lowest called strike rate, at just 36% percent.

This doesn’t mean that Jansen was a bad signing. The Rays value an everyday catcher who can manage the pitching staff and call a good game, and it was reported this spring that Jansen was quickly building a strong rapport with Rays pitchers very quickly. And there is plenty of time to turn things around.

But the Rays do value framing a lot, and for a team that puts run prevention at the center of its identity, it’s hard to not be concerned when it comes to hit pitch framing. To give Jansen credit, over the past few years, and especially going in to this year, he has made adjustments to become a better receiver, adopting the one knee crouch that most catchers go to these days. Ian Malinowski wrote here about his switch to a full-time one knee down setup.

He’s also taken on similar glove movements as the top framing catchers as well.

To illustrate, let’s take a look at a pitch with men on base from the last game Jansen caught in 2024:

And here is a pitch with men on base from the first game he caught in 2025:

He looks like a completely different catcher!

In the first video, both knees are up, he shifts his setup at the last moment to the edge of the plater where he expects the pitch, and keeps his glove high. In the second video he puts his right knee down, flashes the glove to the center of the plate, lowers it to the ground, and then moves to the catching position as the pitch arrives.

So Jansen has completely changed his receiving process, while learning a new staff filled with pitchers throwing extraordinary stuff. Catching is hard, and we should give Jansen a little grace while he figures this out.

With that said, the results have been bad. Thus far, Jansen carries the fourth lowest called strike percentage on pitches just inside the edges of the strike zone, as well as the seventh lowest called percentage of called strikes on pitches just outside the edges of the zone. He has been particularly bad at framing low pitches, as seen here:

But Jansen’s new receiving style was meant to address this, so what exactly is the issue?

Comparing Jansen’s video to catchers around baseball, one pattern of of movement especially stuck out to me. While Jansen is largely mimicking the motions of the best framing catchers, there is one small thing that he is not doing.

Let’s take a look at Jansen trying (unsuccessfully) to frame a low fastball from Shane Baz, complete with lamenting (albeit toward the umpires) from commentators Brian Anderson and Dewayne Staats:

And here is Patrick Bailey of the Giants, who is one of the top framers, successfully framing a low fastball:

At first glance, these are the same video, just with different laundry. Each catcher starts with a traditional catcher’s squat, goes to the single knee crouch, puts up the generic middle of the plate target, drops the glove to the dirt, then raises the glove to receive pitch. But there is one subtle key difference. Here is a side by side still of both catchers the moment the drop their respective gloves to the dirt:

On the left, Bailey touches his glove to the clay with his with his palm facing the pitcher. On the right, the palm of Jansen’s glove is facing the dirt. Many of the other top framing catchers in baseball also use this technique.

Take a look at Yankees’ Austin Wells, Cubs’ Carson Kelly, and Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk:

When it comes to this technique, it appears that in having their palms facing the pitcher allows catcher to preset their wrists to the optimal pitch receiving position. Jansen, on the other hand, has to do a 90 degree wrist turn and then receive the pitch. This can sometimes give the appearance that he is stabbing at the ball.

To illustrate, here is a video isolating both catchers moving their gloves from the dirt to the moment they catch the pitch, starting with Bailey:

And here is Jansen:

This time, the differences are quite stark. Bailey is ready to receive the pitch the moment his glove touches the dirt with no wasted movement thanks to his preset wrist. Jansen, on the other hand, takes a more scenic route to the baseball, raising his glove too high and then snatching it from above.

Conclusion

Obviously, no simple remedy will eliminate Jansen’s framing issues overnight. He is a major league catcher, catching major league pitchers — his job is a difficult one. And he has the ability to bring avalue in a lot of value in a lot of different ways, with his bat, his experienced game calling, and his steady veteran presence. If nothing else, he has the respect of his pitching staff, and that matters.

But the framing still matters. If Jansen continues to give away strikes it will cost the Rays runs, which will cost the Rays games. The setup change this year was made in part to improve that framing ability, and whether it’s a small tweak in technique or something else, I am hopeful he will figure it out.