Disappointing Red Sox hitter expected to surprisingly breakout in September

The current offensive drought affecting the Boston Red Sox is well documented at this point.

As the Red Sox have fallen out of the playoff race, the roster has gone quiet. Superstars and role players have stopped leading the way as Boston has lost eight of its last 11 games, including four in a row heading into Wednesday night.

One culprit for the lack of offense, fair or unfair, is catcher Danny Jansen, whom the Red Sox acquired from the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline. He and Connor Wong have both struggled, leaving the catcher position a black hole in Boston’s lineup.

Jansen was the only hitter Boston signed before the deadline, and he didn’t do much to justify giving up three prospects for half a season of his services. But there’s at least one baseball figure who still believes Jansen can make an impact.

On Wednesday, MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa named Jansen as one of the players whose stock he was “buying” in September.

“The numbers show he’s going to finish strong,” DeRosa said. “He has a 1.021 OPS in September since 2021. So he’s a run-stopper.”

A strong September would be welcome news for Jansen, who has hit just .207/.281/.310 in 20 games since being acquired. Given that right-handed hitters were an obvious priority for Boston at the trade deadline, that’s far from ideal production for their only right-handed acquisition.

Jansen was injured in September 2023, but in 2022 he had a 1.007 OPS and four home runs for a Blue Jays team that made a wild-card appearance. In 2021, when Toronto narrowly missed the playoffs after a torrid second half of the season, Jansen’s September OPS was 1.072 and he hit five home runs.

Given the Red Sox’ inability to hit lefties, something they’ll see a lot when they face the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees next week, Jansen could be one of the most important hitters in the lineup late in the season.

Of course, if the Red Sox don’t start winning soon, none of Jansen’s hot streaks will really matter. But until the season is finally over, Boston must continue to search for answers.

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