Dodgers: Can Kenley Jansen finish ERA shutout for entire month of May?

Entering 2021, Kenley Jansen was one of the Dodgers’ biggest bullpen question marks as he embarked upon the final year of his contract.

Ditto 2020, ditto 2019, ditto 2018…

Even when Jansen was at his most perfect, questions lingered about his ability to be a driving force in the postseason…which is the type of discourse you’re subjected to before you win a World Series. Then, as he began to slide — again, very typical of aging, hard-throwing, one-inning men — the conversation became deafening.

This season, though, Jansen has been the only constant in a ‘pen built of reclamation projects and veteran depth, all of which has disappeared at one point or another.

To cement his comeback, Jansen is on the verge of the ultimate statement: a 0.00 ERA month of May.

Thanks to his brilliance in a one-run win over the Giants Thursday, the Dodgers’ fourth in as many tries, he’s right on the precipice of a noteworthy accomplishment no one foresaw when he was prone on the mound, staring at the ending of Game 4 of the World Series in disbelief last fall.

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is looking for a 0.00 ERA MONTH OF MAY.

With all due respect to the great Jansen, who’s still just 33, has the greatest cutter this side of Mariano Rivera, and could still become one of the rare Hall of Fame closers, after three consecutive years of 3.00+ ERAs, we did not see this coming.

After losing additional steam each year since 2017, watching his velocity diminish and his future fade, Jansen has regrouped and recharged, reaching 97 with ease and gaining potency, not losing it, as the summer gets hotter.

In 11 outings this month, Jansen has surrendered an unearned run just once, during LA’s awful early stretch in which nothing was functional. He has struck out 13 men. He has surrendered two hits.

Two.

Jansen has been nothing short of immaculate — which both the numbers and the eye test back up — and Roberts’ statement holds up under scrutiny.

Four games remaining this month, all at home, against the Giants and Cardinals. It won’t be easy. If anyone can finish the task, though, it’s this current version of Jansen, who’s turning a walk year into a Matisse masterpiece.

Nothing but paint.

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