Fresh off of a five-year, $80 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, closer Kenley Jansen returned to the team with one goal in mind. Justin Turner admitted that Jansen’s wedding night was the tipping point toward both of their returns, explaining the duo wanted to be part of the team that would bring a World Series title back to Los Angeles.
Jansen further earned the respect of his teammates with yet another dominant season as one of the best closers in best baseball. With the best cutter since Mariano Rivera, Jansen entered the season with a clear purpose to improve day in and day out.
Part of that involved mastering his go-to pitch and help establish some secondary pitches to pair with it. Jansen began the season pitching with great deception from the mound.
In fact, he set some milestones along the way by breaking Adam Wainwright’s Major League record for most strikeouts to begin a season without issuing a walk. Jansen’s mark was snapped at 51 strikeouts, shattering Wainwright’s record of 35.
Jansen introduced a slider that would keep hitters modest, picking his spots to bring it in and catch the hitters off balance. During the 2017 season, Jansen used his cutter 92 percent of the time, compared to throwing the slider eight percent.
He surpassed 200 career saves in the second week of June, also earning the National League Relief Pitcher of the Month during that same time.
A stellar first half, where Jansen pitched to the tune of a 0.93 ERA, resulted in his second consecutive All-Star selection. He limited his hitters to a .146 batting average, while striking out 59 and issuing just four walks.
On Oct. 28, Jansen was named the recipient of the Trevor Hoffman Award, presented to the best relief pitcher in the NL.
Jansen’s recognition around Major League Baseball correlated with a fifth-place finish in the NL Cy Young Award, capping off an incredible season. In 65 appearances, the 30-year-old posted 1.32 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 1.31 FIP and 15.5 strikeouts-to-walk ratio.
2017 Highlight:
In Game 6 of the World Series, Jansen stepped up to help seal a win. Being inserted for a two-inning save, Jansen grasped the challenge and provided just the punch the Dodgers needed to force a Game 7.
After getting Carlos Correa to fly out and Yuli Guriel to pop-up in foul territory, he struck out veteran Brian McCann on three pitches to end the eighth inning. With his cutter locked in, the Astros attempted hard to time the pitch in order to make solid contact, but Jansen was also able to keep hitters at bay with the use of his slider.
Following a Marwin Gonzalez pop-up, Jansen closed the door on Game 6 by striking out Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran. His performance was the biggest spot of the season, giving the Dodgers one last chance by forcing a Game 7 in their lone elimination game of the postseason.
2018 Outlook:
With another four seasons left on his contract, Jansen isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Considering his impressive season, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if there’s some regression next year.
