Dodgers: Kenley Jansen Anchors Another Strong Bullpen

Kenley Jansen is the Dodgers’ all-time leader in saves with 192. He’s been a remarkably consistent force at the back end of the bullpen since 2012 when he took over as the full-time closer. Can we expect the same from him this year?

Kenley Jansen is already regarded by most as the Dodgers’ best closer in history. Only Eric Gagne can contest his title because of his extraordinary consecutive save run in 2002-2003. However, Jansen has held down the duties for twice as long as Gagne, while producing some numbers that were better than Gagne’s.

Jansen owns the lowest WHIP, and the lowest opponent’s batting average of anyone with 10 or more saves in franchise history. The key to his ability to diminish contact made by opposing hitters is his hard cutter. Reminiscent of Mariano Rivera, Jansen’s success was built off one pitch. Though, Jansen’s cutter is a bit different from Mo’s.

Rivera’s cutter relied on painting the corners, down in the zone. While the “Big Man’s” cutter is effective when it’s up in the zone, and comes in around 93-95 but hitters feel like it’s 97-99. The reason for this is his ability to hide the ball and his long release point.

Where Jansen struggles though is when his cutter isn’t cutting, and when he isn’t able to locate. If Jansen’s ball doesn’t move, it’s basically what Vin Scully called “a beach ball” to hitter’s eyes. Also, Jansen’s velocity doesn’t help the high home run rate when hitter’s do make contact. His command isn’t the best, but like Pedro Martinez, it’s hard to locate when the ball moves so much. However, when Jansen is fatigued, the ball can end up by the backstop.

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During the 2016 Postseason, the Nationals and Cubs took advantage of another weakness of Jansen’s, his inability to hold runners on. Jansen’s high leg kick and deliberate motion gives base runners (if they find a way to get on) ample time to swipe a bag. Early in his career, walks and base runners were a big reason why he blew saves. However, he showed last year that he’s able to keep his composure even when men are on.

Now onto this season.

Jansen is continuing his dominance, converting all three of his save opportunities. The only two exceptions were in a 10-4 Dodger lead against the Colorado Rockies to get him some work and in a 2-2 tie against the Chicago Cubs. In Colorado, the Rockies were economical, getting two runs on three hits. In Chicago, Jansen looked like he was going to get the Dodgers out of another jam when he relieved Sergio Romo with a runner on base. But he left a fastball over the plate which Anthony Rizzo poked down the left field line for a walk-off win.

Otherwise so far so good for Jansen, since all you can ask for in a closer is to convert save opportunities. His strikeouts per inning were down at about one for the first four games. That’s low for him, that’s how good he is. But there was a positive sign in his last outing, striking out three in his four-out save.

Five outings is a small sample size, but it looks like Jansen is continuing to excel as one of baseball’s most dominant closers. More good news for the Dodgers is that Dave Roberts is mixing up how he uses his bullpen to keep the opposition off guard. No one has a set role yet, so the set-up role can range from full innings with Sergio Romo, to situations with Luis Avilan, to multi-inning holds from Alex Wood and Ross Stripling.

Next: Dodgers: Early Season Struggles with RISP

The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how Roberts uses his bullpen to get to Jansen, it’s that everyone is contributing. Even if some arms go down, or lose their effectiveness, the Dodgers still have a scary bullpen to throw at their opponents. So far this season, they’ve addressed the issue of getting the ball from the starter to the Big Man in the ninth.