Dodgers: Are Kenley Jansen’s Struggles due to Irregular Use?

The Dodgers bullpen has wasted no time this season going from a strength to the kryptonite of the 2018 Dodgers.  Although the Dodgers had one of the best bullpens in baseball last season, this season has gone much differently.

Kenley Jansen had one of the best seasons a closer has had in recent memory before getting roughed up in the World Series last season.  This season, Kenley Jansen has been part of the struggles of the bullpen.  Jansen blew only one save in the regular season last year going 41-42 in save opportunities.  This season, Jansen has already blown two saves and is 6-8 on the season.

Part of Kenley’s struggles to start the season has been poor command and lower velocity to begin the season.  Last season Jansen walked only seven batters and this season he has already walked six hitters.  On top of location issues, Jansen began the season throwing his cutter around 90-91 miles per hour.  That is a big step down from last year when Jansen was routinely hitting 94-95 miles per hour on his cutter.

The big question is why has Jansen begun the season so bad?  Jansen’s early season struggles are likely linked to the tinkering of his normal spring schedule.  The Dodgers chose to hold Jansen back in the spring and gradually eased him into action by letting him throw on the back fields.  While that is still technically a game, it doesn’t compare at all the normal major league spring training game.  By holding Jansen back, he did not appear in as many games as he needed to get tuned up for the regular season.  Just as hitters get into a rhythm with reps, pitchers also get into their grooves based on usage and routines.

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It was clear from the getgo that Jansen was not game ready for the regular season.  In Jansen’s first two innings of the season against the Padres and Dbacks, Jansen allowed four earned runs and two home runs.  Jansen only gave up five regular-season home runs a year ago and he allowed two homers in each of his first two appearances.  This season Jansen has a .212 average allowed and a 1.20 WHIP which is a big jump up from last season when he allowed a .177 average and a 0.75 WHIP.

Now Kenley Jansen is facing a different type of hurdle.  The Dodgers simply are not winning games and as a result, Jansen has not had any save opportunities in a while.  Kenley last pitched in a game on May 13th, and that was not a save situation, it was simply to get Kenley some work since he had gone almost a week without pitching in a game.  For the month of May, Jansen has appeared in seven games including today’s game and only three of them have been save situations.  That’s not the kind of usage you want to see with the closer of a team that is used to winning.

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From the beginning of the spring to today in May, Kenley Jansen has had an irregular schedule this season.  From being held back in the spring, to only facing minor league hitters, to now having to pitch in a lot of Dodgers losses just to eat innings, it has been anything but a routine schedule for Kenley.  Hopefully, the Dodgers start winning games and using Jansen to save games on a regular basis.  Only then will Kenley get into a groove and return to his dominating self.