It’s no secret that the 2018 season has been a difficult one for Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen.
Jansen got off to a rough start to the year, but eventually found his form and was named a National League All-Star for the third consecutive season.
The month of August was particularly challenging for Jansen though as he had a scare during the team’s trip to Colorado, suffering from an irregular heartbeat that forced him to fly home and miss 10 days of action. Jansen later revealed that he will need to undergo a second heart surgery this offseason.
After returning from the heart issue, Jansen had four rough appearances in a row that included taking two losses to the St. Louis Cardinals and blowing a save against the San Diego Padres.
He has once again begun to find his way, tossing a scoreless ninth inning of a walk-off win against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
After the game, Jansen said that he feels he is almost back to where he was before the heart issue, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“Very close. I felt really good. Just got to keep going. This was a big win.”
With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season and the Dodgers potentially returning to the postseason for the sixth straight season, getting Jansen back to his usual dominant self may be the biggest priority for the club.
Tuesday’s appearance wasn’t an easy one as Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra lined a base hit to left with two strikes on him to begin the inning. He then stole second, giving Colorado a runner in scoring position with no one out.
Jansen beared down from there though, retiring the next three hitters he faced to complete the scoreless inning.
