Kenley Jansen went one week before entering a game after blowing a save against the San Diego Padres on Hunter Renfroe’s walk-off grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning.
Although it was another mark against Jansen, he vowed to shake it off and credited Renfroe for hitting his ‘best pitch.’ That would of course be Jansen’s cutter, which hasn’t been nearly as effective since a dominant 2017 season.
After knocking off some rust by finishing a 6-0 win over the Washington Nationals, the Dodgers’ closer was back on the mound two nights later for a rematch with Renfroe. Jansen relished the opportunity and got the better of Renfroe a second time around.
However, his 13th save of the season was not without Jansen and Austin Barnes struggling to get on the same page when it came to pitch selection — specifically with Eric Hosmer at the plate. Forming a battery with Russell Martin in the ninth inning the following night, the same issue arose.
“Kenley obviously knows what he wants to do,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his club finished a nine-game homestand by sweeping the Padres. “I think he can be stubborn at times, can be convicted at times.
“We’ve got to work things out as far as what we’re trying to do to get Kenley and the catchers on the same page. I think that now he can do some different things, so just really trying to get on the same page. Just conversations we need to have.”
In both cases, Jansen appeared visibly frustrated with his catcher. He stepped — more of a stomp — off the rubber when Barnes didn’t flash a pitch call to Jansen’s liking. He summoned Martin out for a mound visit as they worked to strand runners at first and second base.
However, Jansen downplayed the notion of there being a disconnect with Barnes or Martin, and attributed the sequences to a change in signs. “It might look kind of weird out there but we’re good,” he insisted.
“We’ll talk about it. I thought it was a different sign, the same sign we were using. It kind of confused me. I can’t say [which sign].”
Jansen has shown an increased willingness to deploy his slider, which has netted positive results. But he remains reliant on a cutter that established him as one of the game’s best closer.
Jansen’s cutter usage, 84.5%, is up slightly from last year’s 84% but down from his career average (87.5%). More problematic has been the velocity, movement and command of the pitch. Jansen is confident he will continue to improve as the season progresses.
“It’s good to hear that he feels that way. I don’t think anyone starts a season expecting to start slow and is fine with it,” Roberts said.
“Especially when you’re in Kenley’s role; games are impacted. I am happy to see he’s trending in the right direction. I think to how he starts a season, that’s something we could probably dig into to make June be April, or September be April. I guess it’s good he’s trending in the right direction.”
