Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Off-Season: Kenley Jansen Spotted Working Out at Dodger Stadium

Kenley Jansen left a lot to be desired in an uncharacteristic 2019 campaign and according to a recent video from Dodger Insider, he has begun his work to correct his mistakes for the 2020 season.

Jansen, now 32 years old, has an opt-out in his contract in this free agency period, but the expectation is that he will not be opting out of his deal. He will remain with the Dodgers through the 2021 and become a free agency with a likely pay decrease in store for 2020.

Jansen will most likely enter the 2020 season as the Dodgers’ closer if the club does not decide to move in a different direction at the Winter Meetings.

It is good to see Kenley getting his work in, as he will be getting near a full off-season due to the Dodgers’ early exit in the postseason.

He needs it. In 2019, Jansen tossed 63 innings of work, struck out 30.4 percent of batters, and held a 3.71 ERA and 3.51 DRA. 2019 was the first season in Jansen’s career that he had a DRA over 3. For reference, these were his DRA marks from 2014 through 2018: 1.87, 1.97, 1.93, 1.90, and 2.56. He is regressing and it’s not a steady decline. Jansen seemed to almost fall off a cliff at times in terms of performance and the Dodgers are simply not paying him $18 million to blow saves.

There are a plethora of statistics that Jansen did bode well in in 2019 and could point to a better season in 2020. Even through all the home runs and blown saves, Jansen held a 99th percentile hard hit rate and a 98th percentile average exit velocity against him. The underlying stats look good for him. Actually, they are not just good, they are elite.

The Dodgers need Jansen to return to his old form, but that might be an uphill battle at age 32. Regardless, let’s hope and pray that Jansen defies the odds.

Daniel Preciado

My name is Daniel Preciado and I am 19 years old. I am a sophomore Sport Analytics major and Cognitive Science and Economics dual minor at Syracuse University. When I am not in New York, I live in Whittier, California --- not too far from Chavez Ravine. I am pretty old-school for being an analytics guy and I will always embrace debate. Also, Chase Utley did absolutely nothing wrong.

6 Comments

  1. Yep, agree 100%, father time is undefeated. Not to mention his heart condition. The only “training” Kenley Jansen can do in the off season is to continue the reduction of his cutter velocity. After Jansen is done, Kershaw is next.

  2. I know he tried (JANSEN ) his best, but the time has come to let go , maybe go back to catching, a bullpen catcher , he has to have reality set in ….. so do the Dodgers front office. The best to you Kenley.

  3. He could rebound as relievers are ever changing but 18 million, wow , just wow.. I see why Andy Friedman doesn’t like to pay too much for relief .. this remainder of the contract is a disaster .

  4. The Dodgers will now be held hostage by Kershaw and Kenley contracts Lot’s of money for Post season losses. Maybe instead of worrying about the 31 year drought, we should start a new streak. This will be the 3rd straight year the Dodgers need to get multiple bull pen help and sit on their hands, and most likely the 2nd year of no help at the trade deadline.

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