Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen entered uncharted waters during the 2016 postseason as he was asked to pitch multiple innings on a few occasions. No more was Jansen pressed out of his comfort zone than against the Washington Nationals in winner-take-all Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
Jansen entered in the seventh inning at Nationals Park and turned in 2.1 scoreless innings. The performance motivated Clayton Kershaw to pitch on two days’ rest to earn his first career save and send the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series.
While it came in a losing effort and elimination game, Jansen threw a career-high three innings against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Game 6 of the NLCS. Aside from allowing four runs in 0.1 innings, Jansen threw scoreless work in six other postseason games (11.1 innings).
Looking back on what he accomplished on a personal level during the playoffs, Jansen recently said it helped him grow and improve, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I definitely got to know myself,” he said. “I throw 2 1/3 innings in the clinching game [against Washington in the National League Division Series], three innings against the Cubs [in the NL Championship Series finale], stuff I never did. And that stuff, you just feed off from it and get better and you want to know how good can you be.”
Jansen’s outstanding postseason also paid dividends financially, as he was among the highly sought after closers during the winter. He fielded offers from several teams, including the Nationals, before electing to re-sign with the Dodgers on a five-year, $80 million contract.
Jansen has been worth every penny of that so far this season, converting all 13 of his save opportunities thus far, while yielding a 0.98 ERA, 0.45 FIP and 0.58 WHIP. What’s more, Jansen broke Adam Wainwright’s MLB record for most strikeouts without a walk to start a season, and has extended it.
Jansen enters play Friday with 45 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. Wainwright recorded 35 strikeouts before issuing a free pass in 2013.
It is undeniable that Jansen has developed into one of the best closers in baseball the last few seasons. He should be rewarded this year with a second consecutive All-Star Game selection.
