Dodgers: Kenley Jansen is Already a Dodger Great

The Dodgers’ franchise has had the luxury of employing some of the best pitchers the game has ever seen.  Kenley Jansen has quietly pitched his way into the Dodger record books.

The Dodgers are a franchise that has historically featured some of the best players the game has ever seen.  Especially on the pitching side with Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, and now Clayton Kershaw who will go down as one of the best left-handed pitchers of all-time.  There is another Dodger pitcher who has quietly pitched his way into being one of the all-time Dodger greats and that is Kenley Jansen.

You have to give the Dodgers’ staff credit as Kenley was once a catcher with a rocket arm but he did not hit enough to move up the ranks of the minor leagues.  After converting into a relief pitcher he burst onto the scene with his cut fastball and eventually evolved into one of the best closers in baseball.  He already eclipsed Eric Gagne’s franchise save record of 161 saves, and will enter the 2019 season with 268 career saves.

Outside of saves, Jansen currently holds the Dodger record for WHIP (0.88), ERA (2.20), K/9IP (13.5), hits for nine innings pitched (5.6), and strikeout to walk ratio (5.7 K/BB).  Jansen is even the current all-time Dodger leader in two advanced stats which are FIP (2.12) and adjusted ERA+ (173).  The qualifications for these stat leaderboards are at least 500 innings pitched, or at least 50 total pitching decisions.

More from LA Dodgers News

• Giants laughably sign pitcher that Dodgers absolutely own
• Dave Roberts’ quote about Padres in NLDS should motivate Dodgers
• Former Astro seemingly takes uncalled for shot at Cody Bellinger after Cubs deal
• Dodgers’ 2023 lineup without Trea Turner isn’t as impressive as it should be
• Recapping who Dodgers gained and lost in Rule 5 Draft

While many will agree that the save statistic can be overrated at times, there is no denying the other statistics that Jansen has taken the lead for which came as a surprise given the pitching-rich history of the Dodgers.  Jansen will be thirty-one for the majority of the 2019 season so he could still have plenty of more seasons to tack onto his stats with all of them coming in Dodger blue hopefully.

Kenley does have the ability to opt out of his contract after this coming season but given he is slated to earn 38 million over the next two years and the rough free agency periods of the past two seasons, it is unlikely that the opt-out will be exercised.  Like Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen is one pitcher that needs to be a Dodgers for the duration of his career.

Jansen is one of the club’s franchise greats already and hopefully, by the end of his career, he has a few World Series rings to show for it.  If he continues to refine his cutter then perhaps he could have a Mariano Rivera like career and pitch into his forties.  With his heart problems of a year ago hopefully behind him, Kenley Jansen should be ready to dominate once again in 2019.