Kenley Jansen played a prominent role for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season and enjoyed a bounce-back campaign to validate manager Dave Roberts’ continued trust in him as closer, but the past two appearances have been non-save situations during the eighth inning.
Jansen succeeded in both instances and earned a win when the Dodgers took a decided lead against the San Francisco Giants and Max Scherzer converted the save in Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
When Jansen was called on to pitch in the NL Championship Series opener, he kept L.A. tied with the Atlanta Braves. Though, Game 1 ended with the Braves earning a walk-off win with Blake Treinen on the mound in the ninth inning.
“It was just I felt that with the run right there,” Roberts explained of essentially swapping Treinen and Jansen. “Kenley’s our closer, but I just felt that with the lefties looming, Swanson, the pinch-hitter, the two lefties at the top, I really liked Kenley right there.
“Throughout his entire career has sort of been kind of reverse (splits). To have Blake at the bottom, I just felt that was a good run for both guys and it was just a win-win.”
As for the decision to allow Treinen to pitch to Riley — who had previously hit a game-tying home run — Roberts acknowledged there was some thought given to an intentional walk, but only briefly.
“I think the way that Blake’s dominated right-handed hitters, you got Joc on deck,” he said. “If he was going to get him out, I was thinking about walking Joc to get to Duvall, but I think in that spot right there I didn’t like the matchup with Joc on deck.”
Jansen no longer ‘stubborn’
Part of Jansen enjoying a bit of a renaissance season is based on his incorporating a slider more frequently.
“You learn from when you have to deal with adversity and knowing that I didn’t have my best two years the last couple of years, and you learn,” Jansen recently said.
“You try to make sure and see what’s going on. Best pitch is my cutter, and I try to shape that and make it back to what it is and not even that, just continue to develop my two-seamer and slider. And now you just know situations how have you to use it better now.
“So that’s what I feel like. I’m a more experienced pitcher now instead of being stubborn out there and just die with one pitch.”
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