As the Los Angeles Dodgers progress through their Spring Training schedule, one bright spot that has stood out thus far during Cactus League play is Kenley Jansen.
The right-hander enjoyed an excellent 2020 debut against the Chicago Cubs, striking out two batters in a scoreless inning of work. He hovered around 92-93 mph during the outing, which represents a significant increase when compared to his first appearance in Spring Training last year.
Jansen followed up that performance with an even better showing against the L.A. Angels on Wednesday, striking out the side in what was another perfect inning on the mound.
Jansen’s fastball maxed out at 94 mph and his cutter continued showing good movement — all of which were focuses in his visit to Driveline Baseball over the offseason.
Despite the early success with results, Jansen revealed that he is mainly looking for consistency during his Cactus League appearances, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It’s good to have results,” Jansen said. “But sometimes you’re gonna have bad results and you have to know – ‘are you throwing the ball well?’ To me, it’s more right now a consistency thing. Can I repeat that pitch over and over and over? That’s what spring training is for. So I want to make sure that I can repeat that pitch over and over and over again.”
Jansen is coming off arguably his worst statistical season in the big leagues, posting a 3.71 ERA, 3.48 FIP and 1.06 WHIP with 80 strikeouts and 16 walks in 63 innings across (62 appearances). He also blew a career-high eight save attempts, converting only 33 of 41 opportunities.
In addition to working with Driveline, Jansen is attempting to bounce back from a disappointing 2019 season by being more aggressive in his throwing program.
He was slow-played during Spring Training last year, and it led to some rust as the regular season began. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ trust in Jansen had wavered by the end of the year, as he faced only five Washington Nationals batters in the National League Division Series.
Some of Jansen’s struggles can also be attributed to a heart issue that forced him to undergo a second surgery last offseason. Now that he is another year removed from the procedure, the hope is that he can return to his previous All-Star form in 2020.
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