Long considered one of baseball’s most dominant relievers, Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen hasn’t quite lived up to that reputation thus far in 2019.
While the right-hander has maintained his health, his pitches — particularly his trusted cutter — have lacked in velocity and movement at times. As a result, Jansen has struggled with the home run ball this season, already allowing four in 24.2 innings pitched.
After recently struggling to connect with catchers Austin Barnes and Russell Martin in back-to-back games over apparent pitch selection, Jansen has shown a willingness to begin experimenting with his secondary offerings.
Though, Jansen maintained that was a result of signs being changed and he and the catchers simply not being on the same page at that time.
While Jansen is open to utilizing his secondary weapons more often, he reiterated that his cutter will continue being his go-to pitch in big spots, via SportsNet LA:
“Just learning to pitch a little bit more. I’m maturing a little bit more out there, I feel like. Getting better and getting to know myself more. Trusting my slider and two-seamer and just keep hitters guessing. That’s the whole point of the game, (but) my pitch is still going to be that cutter. I want them to keep looking for it, so I’m going to keep them guessing. I’m not going to become a slider guy or a two-seamer guy. I’m still going to attack, so that’s my approach.”
Considering the success he has enjoyed with his cutter over the course of his 10-year stint with the Dodgers, it’s understandable that Jansen still maintains confidence in his primary pitch.
It is also promising that Jansen is willing to adapt with a different approach as his career progresses — especially if his velocity continues decreasing in the years ahead.
In May, Jansen deployed his cutter only 78.2% of the time — the lowest usage rate in a single calendar month for him since August 2018. On the flip side, the 31-year-old threw his slider 11.6% of the time, which marked the highest usage rate for that particular pitch all season.
He deployed it on back-to-back pitches in a recent save against the New York Mets. Jansen additionally threw his two-seam fastball 10.2% of the time in May — the most since last October.
In 24 games this season, Jansen is 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA, 3.15 FIP and 0.89 WHIP over 24.2 innings of work. He has accumulated 17 saves and continues to strike out batters at an elite rate (12.8 batters per nine innings).
