TORONTO -- When Danny Jansen trots out of the dugout and crouches down behind the plate, he brings with him just 11 games of Major League experience. Offensively, he's been outstanding in his first few games, hitting .333, but you couldn't blame a veteran pitcher for being hesitant when a 23-year-old rookie puts his fingers down to call for the pitch.
Except what Jansen lacks in experience, he makes up for by having the unquantifiable currency of trust.
Throughout his Minor League career, Jansen has had a knack for building relationships with his pitching staff. It's a skill that's crucial for a catcher and one that often goes unnoticed. It can't be measured by a metric or be seen watching game tape, it can only be heard through sound bites.
Ryan Borucki brought it up in Kansas City when he called Jansen his "best friend." The two Illinois natives have a special relationship that started in 2013 when they met in the Gulf Coast League.
"You always gravitate to people you have stuff in common with," Borucki said. "When I first met him, we just started hanging out, and the relationship built from there."
At the time, the 19-year-old Borucki was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery that abruptly ended his rookie season, while the 18-year-old Jansen was playing his first year of professional baseball after being selected in the 16th round out of Appleton (Wis.) West High School.
"It just clicked right off the get-go," Jansen said. "I remember walking into the hotel room and introducing myself, it was like my first day at the hotel in 2013 … and [we] became friends ever since."
Jansen says the two are about "as close as you can get." They've lived together and their families care about one another. It jumps out when you go through Kathy Jansen's Twitter feed. Danny's mother is a huge supporter of Borucki, repeatedly tweeting the fire emoji to describe the left-handed starter. It's also probably not a coincidence that their lockers are beside one another in the Blue Jays' clubhouse.
However, the relationship didn't seem unique to Buffalo Bisons manager Bobby Meacham, who managed the two briefly in 2017 and for the early part of this season.
"I don't really think of them as the two of them," Meacham said. "I didn't know the story about how close they were."
It's not that Meacham was oblivious to their relationship, rather he says Jansen acts the same way with all his teammates.

"Right away, I noticed that Danny is a guy that everyone really liked," Meacham said. "I've heard quite a few pitchers say, 'Hey, that's my guy' … but the bottom line is, when you've got a pitcher saying that about a catcher, that's pretty special. That means he's formed a relationship that is necessary to be successful."
Those relationships are a part of the game that Jansen focuses on. He sees the value in making sure his pitchers throw with confidence, and he knows how to help his teammates out of a jam.
"When you like a guy and you believe that he's not just for himself, you trust him," Meacham said. "I think that's what Danny concentrates on. … He concentrates a lot on getting their trust."
That comes from spending time together away from the game. Jansen grabs dinner with his teammates and chats about things other than baseball whenever he can.
"Just gaining their trust as humans, I think that goes a long way," Jansen said. "Being personable, that definitely translates to the field."
Having a catcher like Jansen bodes well for the Blue Jays' future. All indications suggest he's the kind of catcher that pitchers want to pitch to. And if his offensive numbers are any indication of the things he can do with the bat, he should be a stalwart in Toronto for years to come.