The Los Angeles Dodgers lost their second consecutive game against the San Francisco Giants on Friday evening by a score of 1-0. As was the case on Opening Day, Joe Panik accounted for the only run in the game, with a solo homer off an All-Star pitcher.
After taking Clayton Kershaw deep in the first game of the series, Panik followed suit with a clutch ninth-inning blast against Kenley Jansen in the ensuing matchup. He became the first player in MLB history to homer in back-to-back 1-0 wins.
For Jansen, he once again struggled to register a high velocity on his cutter, averaging just 89 mph when throwing the pitch in his regular season debut.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is confident that Jansen’s loss of velocity is due to a mechanical flaw, and not a health-related issue as some have speculated, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“No, that’s not how we scripted it,” said Roberts. “[Jansen’s] first outing in Spring Training, he touched 94. As I’ve learned, when his velocity is down, it’s mechanical. He’s a big body guy, but I do think when it’s 4 miles an hour, 3 miles an hour, it’s not a health thing. He feels great, feels strong. It’s not usage. It’s a mechanics thing and he’ll work through it.
“The ball to Panik was belt-high, 89, kind of a cement mixer right there, in his nitro zone. Very uncharacteristic of Kenley.”
After the loss, Jansen downplayed any concerns in regards to his velocity dip. In contrast to Roberts, he insisted that it isn’t a mechanics-related problem, and that Panik simply got the best of him.
For much of Cactus League play, Jansen’s cutter velocity had notably diminished as well. Though, the right-hander didn’t allow a run in five Spring Training appearances and admitted to taking it easy after an increased workload during the 2017 season.
