Danny Jansen to play for both teams in a game

Make sure to tune in to Monday’s Blue Jays-Red Sox game, because you’ll see something that’s never happened in Major League Baseball history: The same player playing for both teams in the same game.

It will be a first for an MLB game. No player at the Major League level has ever played for both teams in one game.

So how is it happening now? Here’s everything you need to know about what will take place when the Red Sox and Blue Jays resume play and how it fits into baseball’s quirky history of suspended game-related wackiness.

How could one player play for BOTH teams in the same game?

Jansen was a member of the Blue Jays on June 26 when the game began. He started at catcher and was batting seventh for Toronto, and he was actually at bat, facing an 0-1 count, when the game was suspended due to rain in the top of the second inning. The game was scheduled to resume on Aug. 26, as the front end of a split doubleheader.

This is where things get interesting. Jansen was traded from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox on July 27. Meanwhile, Boston’s own starting catcher in the original game, Reese McGuire, was designated for assignment the following day.

So when the June 26 game resumes, the Red Sox will need to send someone else out behind the plate to take McGuire’s place. And that someone is going to be Jansen, according to manager Alex Cora.

“I’ve been getting texts from Jayson Stark [of the Athletic] and [ESPN’s] Buster Olney, ‘Is he catching?’ Yeah he’s catching. Let’s make history,” said Cora.

When Jansen enters the suspended game for Boston, he’ll appear in the box score for both the Blue Jays and the Red Sox, and make history in the process.

“I don’t even know how this works. I’ve heard about it a couple times,” Jansen told reporters after his trade to the Red Sox. “That’ll be funky, right?”

What’s the situation when the Red Sox-Blue Jays game resumes?

Jansen is technically still at bat for the Blue Jays — even though he’s on the Red Sox now — with an 0-1 count, one out and Davis Schneider on first base in the top of the second inning.

Obviously, he can’t finish his at-bat since he’s now on the opposing team. So Toronto will have to pinch-hit for Jansen when the game resumes.

But the fun part is that because he’s being inserted for McGuire behind the plate, Jansen will be catching a plate appearance that he started as the batter for the other team.

Unfortunately for the historical oddities at play, because there were less than two strikes on Jansen, whoever the Blue Jays use as the pinch-hitter for Jansen will get statistical credit for the result of the at-bat no matter what. If there were two strikes, and the pinch-hitter struck out, that strikeout would be charged to Jansen, which would mean Danny Jansen caught a strikeout of Danny Jansen.

What will this look like in the Blue Jays-Red Sox box score?

Jansen will indeed appear in the final box score for both teams, under the original date of the game. You’ll see a statistical line for him on both sides for June 26.

The Red Sox also will likely bring in a new pitcher mid-plate appearance to replace starter Kutter Crawford, who was on the mound when the original game was delayed. (Crawford is still on the team, of course, but the odds are against it even being his turn in the rotation, and the Red Sox probably would want him starting a clean game, anyway.)

If there is a pitching change, the relief pitcher will be charged with any results of the plate appearance, because he’ll be ahead in the count when he comes into the game. Crawford would only be charged if the reliever had issued a walk after inheriting a count where the hitter already had the advantage.

What are the rules at play here?

Here’s a summary of the rules from the MLB rule book that apply to this suspended game situation:

• 9.23(d) — Stats from the completion of a suspended game count towards the original scheduled date of the game
• 7.02(h) — Teams are allowed use players in the completion of a suspended game who were not with the team on the date the game was suspended
• 9.15(b) — This rule specifies who is responsible for the result of a plate appearance following a mid-at-bat hitter substitution — the original batter or his pinch-hitter
• 9.16(h) — This rule governs who’s responsible for the result of a plate appearance after a mid-at-bat pitching change — the original pitcher or the reliever

Has anything like this happened in baseball before?

While no Major League player has played for both teams in the same game, suspended games have created some weird wrinkles in MLB history.

1) Players playing in an MLB game before their MLB debut

Two of the most famous examples of this involve Juan Soto and Barry Bonds — who both had big hits in games that technically happened before their MLB debut.

• Soto’s big league debut for the Nationals came on May 20, 2018. But a month later, on June 18, the Nats and Yankees finished a suspended game that began on May 15 — five days before Soto’s debut. On that date, in reality, Soto was playing for Double-A Harrisburg (he went 3-for-4). But when Washington’s game vs. the Yankees resumed, Soto pinch-hit for the Nats … and hit a home run. Soto’s stat line for that game officially counts for May 15. That’s how Juan Soto homered in a Major League game before his Major League debut.

• Bonds’ MLB debut was May 30, 1986, for the Pirates. Later in the season, Pittsburgh resumed a game against the Cubs that had been suspended due to darkness in the 14th inning on April 20. At that time, Wrigley Field was still the last MLB stadium without lights (Wrigley held its first night game in 1988). Bonds entered the resumed game as a pinch-hitter in the 17th inning — and hit the go-ahead single — then played center field for the bottom of the 17th. All that went into the box score for April 20. So Barry Bonds had a game-winning hit in the big leagues over a month before his big league debut.

2) Players playing for two different teams on the same game date (just not for opposing teams in one game)

This happened recently with Javier Báez, who got hits for both the Cubs and Mets on April 11, 2021.

Báez was with the Cubs on April 11 and played a full game against the Pirates, going 1-for-4 with a home run. At the Trade Deadline, he was dealt to the Mets, who just so happened to have the continuation of a suspended game from April 11 against the Marlins coming up.

Báez entered the game for New York in the eighth inning when it was resumed on Aug. 31 at Citi Field. He wound up knocking a single and then dashed around the bases to cap the Mets’ walk-off rally in the bottom of the ninth. That hit counts in his stats for April 11 … so Báez had hits for the Mets and Cubs on the same date in 2021.

It should be noted that this oddity also has occurred without the benefit of a suspended game. On Aug. 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood recorded hits for both the Mets (in Chicago) and Expos (in Philadelphia) after getting traded in between the two games.

3) Two players facing each other twice on the same date, for two different pairs of teams

On July 21, 2021, Duvall and the Marlins faced Hudson and the Nationals … and on July 21, 2021, Duvall and the Braves faced Hudson and the Padres.

The actual day of July 21, the Marlins beat the Nats, 3-1. Duvall went 1-for-4 for Miami, and Hudson pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Washington. Meanwhile, the Padres were playing the Braves. And that game was suspended due to rain in the fifth inning.

On July 30, the Marlins traded Duvall to the Braves … and the Nationals traded Hudson to the Padres. So when Atlanta and San Diego resumed the July 21 game on Sept. 24, Duvall and Hudson were in opposing dugouts again, for two new teams.

The best part: In the sixth inning, Duvall stepped into the batter’s box against Hudson. And Duvall crushed a home run. So Duvall, as a Brave, homered off Hudson, as a Padre, on the same day that Duvall’s Marlins played against Hudson’s Nationals.

4) A player playing for both teams in the same game in the Minors

While Jansen would be the first to play for both teams in the same game at the Major League level, there’s at least one example of it happening in the Minor Leagues.

Dale Holman played for both the Syracuse Chiefs and Richmond Braves in the same Triple-A game in 1986.

Holman was with Syracuse (then the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate) when the game began in June. It was suspended due to rain, and by the time it resumed on Aug. 16, the outfielder had been released by the Blue Jays and had signed on with the Braves. Holman started at Double-A with Atlanta, but he was promoted to Triple-A just in time for the resumed game.

Holman went 1-for-1 with Syracuse when the game started, and 2-for-2 for Richmond when it continued. All in all, a 3-for-3 game … with hits for both teams.

What’s the wildest possible scenario for a suspended game?

How about this one: This won’t happen for the Red Sox and Blue Jays. It might not ever happen. But theoretically, a pitcher could strike out himself as a hitter.

Imagine Shohei Ohtani batting, with two strikes, when the game is halted because of rain. Then Ohtani gets traded. When the game is resumed, he’s on the other team. Ohtani comes in as the new pitcher for his new team, and strikes out the pinch-hitter that his original team used for himself. Because there were two strikes already, the strikeout is charged to Ohtani the batter.

So Shohei Ohtani the pitcher would strike out Shohei Ohtani the hitter.