Dodgers: Kenley Jansen’s Quietly Solid Start to the Season

At this time last year, Kenley Jansen was under fire. The rock at the end of the Dodgers bullpen had allowed three home runs in his first seven appearances.

The Dodgers’ beloved closer, signed to a long term deal just a few seasons prior, had a 5.59 ERA at the end of April 2018, and fans and analysts alike feared the worst.

Here’s a Daily News take on Jansen’s shortcomings from last season:

"This reduced spring workload has produced a rocky start for Jansen.The right-hander has shown diminished velocity while taking a loss and blowing a save in his first two outings. Jansen insists he is fine physically – though lingering effects from a mid-March left hamstring injury might be affecting his mechanics.If there is a connection between Jansen’s light spring work and being “out of whack” to start the season, the Dodgers might now be second-guessing the spring plan."

But none of these struggles from last season’s tough beginning have been repeated again in 2019. In fact, it has been quite the opposite.

Jansen has been the light at the end of what has been a dark tunnel that has bridged the starting rotation to the end of the game. While the Dodger team has an ERA of 4.10, and the bullpen has an ERA of 4.91, Jansen has a solid 3.09 ERA, a sub-1 WHIP, and seven saves, not to mention 16 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.

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While the ERA is still noticeably above his career mark (2.22), the WHIP and the strikeouts are there, meaning Jansen is in control and that he has his filthy cutter working how he needs it to when he is right, which should not be taken for granted.

At the very end of last season, or rather for most of the second half, Jansen struggled mightily as he battled his own heart. Immediately after coming off the DL, Jansen stumbled through a run-riddled appearance, and never really seemed to regain the quality that makes him who he is on the mound. The LA Times picked up on his lackluster performance right away back in August:

"Kenley Jansen had waited 11 days for this moment, slogging through an excruciating stint on the disabled list because of a heart issue while his fellow relievers stumbled without him. His much-heralded return on Monday night was not what he or the Dodgers envisioned.The closer took over in the ninth inning of a tie game and gave up home runs to the first two batters he faced, Jedd Gyorko driving a shot to left-center and Matt Carpenter hitting his National League-leading 34th homer to center to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory before 42,404 in Dodger Stadium."

As Jansen continues to put his rough 2018 behind him, the Dodgers should continue to have no trouble closing out games. Even if the rest of the bullpen is as shoddy as it has been at any point over the last two seasons, the team and the fans will always be able to put their trust in Kenleyfornia.