GDB 17.0: Reinforcements begin to arrive as Toronto Blue Jays open series against Yankees

Here comes the cavalry.

The first of the Jays dealing with early season injuries is back with the club, as the team reinstated Danny Jansen from the injured list, optioning backup catcher Brian Serven to the Triple-A Bisons.

The birthday boy Jansen, who suffered a fracture in his wrist in Spring Training, drew in for four games over the last week with the Bisons and was nothing short of electric. Across 14 plate appearances, he slashed .308/.357/615, taking a walk and hammering a grand slam in his first game back.

Now, he’ll be in Toronto to take some games from Alejandro Kirk, whose plate struggles this year have been significant. An excellent Spring Training where he posted a 107.4 OPS that has translated to a .429 through the first 14 games of the season. That won’t happen today, as Kirk is behind the plate to catch for Chris Bassitt, but I have a hard time not seeing Jansen taking more games moving forward. At the very least, Jansen can provide pinch-hitting options for the Jays today.

Bassitt, meanwhile, is looking for another rebound game after a tough start to the year. In his first two starts against Tampa Bay and Houston, Bassitt allowed eight earned runs across nine and one third innings, but had a huge performance against Seattle.

There, he went deep in the game, lasting six and two-thirds innings, striking out eight batters and allowing just one earned run while throwing 115 pitches. It was an old school performance from the Hound, and now, the Jays will look for him to help get this series against the Yankees off on the right foot.

First pitch: 7:07 p.m. EST. TV & Radio: Sportsnet.

Weather: N/A

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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.