When the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 to end their World Series drought, a lot of the attention went to Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen — the two longest-tenured players in the organization.
For Kershaw, he is now able to call himself a champion, which was the last accomplishment missing from his Hall of Fame resumé. Jansen also feels validated after winning a title, recently referring to himself as a “true Dodger.”
It was the perfect ending to a rather up-and-down season for Jansen. He was a late arrival to Summer Camp late after contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19) and noted it took him awhile to get back to feeling 100% healthy.
Jansen wasn’t able to get a lot of reps in against his teammates, but he still enjoyed an excellent start to the season, earning National League Reliever of the Month honors for July-August.
The right-hander allowed just two runs over his first 14.2 innings of work, striking out 21 batters in comparison to six walks. As the calendar turned to September, he struggled to replicate that success.
During a two-game stretch, Jansen gave up seven runs in 1.1 innings, with most of the damage coming in an outing against the Houston Astros. He posted a 6.52 ERA in 11 appearances for the month, but remained the Dodgers’ closer heading into the postseason.
In 27 overall appearances, he pitched to a 3-1 record, 3.33 ERA, 3.03 FIP and 1.15 WHIP over 24.1 innings, converting 11 of 13 save opportunities.
Jansen recorded a save in his only appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series, but it wasn’t without a scare. A two-out walk allowed Christian Yelich to step up to the plate as the tying run.
Jansen went on to struggle in two appearances against the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series before bouncing back the following round. He tossed three scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves.
Jansen was hit hard by the Rays in the World Series, highlighted by a disastrous outing in Game 4. That wound up being Jansen’s final appearance of the season, as he was passed over in the ensuing two matchups for Blake Treinen and Julio Urias.
2020 highlight
As previously mentioned, Jansen was lights-out during the months of July and August, posting a 1.23 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine saves in 16 appearances.
2021 outlook
Jansen has one season left on the five-year contract he signed prior to the 2017 campaign. It remains to be seen if he will win back his job as Dodgers closer, but manager Dave Roberts believes that would be the best-case scenario.
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