The lowdown on  FA closer Kenley Jansen

Kenley Jansen entered free agency last offseason as the longest-tenured player in the Dodgers organization, having signed as an amateur free agent out of Curaçao in November 2004. Jansen had been in that position once before, becoming a free agent after the 2016 season. In that case, he re-signed with L.A. on a five-year, $80 million deal. Jansen went on to pitch in three World Series over that span, winning a long-awaited ring in 2020, and extending his reign as one of MLB’s top closers to a full 10 seasons. But in his second chance at the open market, he signed a one-year, $16 million deal to chase another title with the Braves. After a solid season in Atlanta, the big right-hander is headed for free agency again, upon the conclusion of the World Series.

Here’s what you need to know about Jansen:

FAST FACTS
Birthdate: Sept. 30, 1987 (Age 35 in 2023)
Primary position: RP
Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 265 pounds
Bats/throws: Right/right
Place of birth: Willemstad, Curaçao
Signed: Nov. 17, 2004, by Dodgers
MLB debut: July 24, 2010
Qualifying offer: Not eligible to receive one

THE NUMBERS
2022: 3.38 ERA (121 ERA+), 41 saves, 85 K, 0.9 WAR in 64 IP
Career: 2.46 ERA (159 ERA+), 391 saves, 1,107 K, 19.5 WAR in 769 IP
*Per Baseball-Reference

STAT TO KNOW
With his final save of the 2022 season, Jansen passed Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for sole possession of eighth place on the all-time list, at 391. He also closed the gap on his Dodgers replacement, Craig Kimbrel, who is now seventh (394). If Jansen can find another closing job in 2023, he should pass the 400 mark, with a chance to break into the top five by vaulting over Kimbrel, Billy Wagner (422) and John Franco (424).

QUESTION MARK
While Jansen has still been effective of late, he’s not what he was at his peak. In his best season (2017), Jansen had a 1.32 ERA, 1.31 FIP, 42.3% K-rate and 2.7% walk rate, capping a truly dominant eight-season run to begin his career. Since then, he has a 3.08 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 30.7% K-rate and 8.4% walk rate. That’s still plenty good, obviously, but with Jansen now in his mid-30s, there will naturally be questions about whether he is a legitimate relief ace going forward.

His pitch mix is evolving
It worked for the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera. And for a long time, it worked for Jansen, too. That would be an arsenal that included cutters, cutters and more cutters. It didn’t matter if batters knew what was coming -- they couldn’t hit it. Through 2018, Jansen attacked opponents with roughly 80-90% cutters each season. But Jansen began losing velocity on the pitch, from upwards of 94 mph on average to just 90.9 mph in 2020. (That velocity has ticked back up over 92 mph the past two seasons). He has adjusted by adding more variety. The cutter remains Jansen’s bread and butter, but his usage of it has dropped to below 65% in each of the past three seasons, while he has worked in plenty of sinkers and sliders. The slider looked like a potentially elite pitch in 2021 (.093 average, 40.3% whiff rate) but backslid in 2022 (.206 average, 25.0% whiff rate).

He was originally a catcher
Closing games is actually something of a second career for Jansen. For most of his first five professional seasons, Jansen was receiving pitches, not throwing them. From 2005-09, he caught 238 Minor League games in the Dodgers organization, getting as far as a brief Triple-A stint in 2009. Not surprisingly, Jansen was adept at throwing out runners -- check him out in the clip below throwing a seed from his knees to nab Ryan Braun attempting to steal second in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. On the other hand, he struggled at the plate, with a .647 OPS and 15 homers in nearly 1,000 Minor League plate appearances. Late in the 2009 season, the Dodgers converted Jansen to pitcher, and the rest is history.

He hails from a tiny baseball hotbed
Curaçao, located in the Caribbean Sea, is a relative speck on the globe. But in the baseball world, it’s much more than that. Jansen is one of 16 players born there to reach the Majors, all since 1989. The list includes 10-time Gold Glove Award winner Andruw Jones as well as five active players: Ozzie Albies, Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop, Andrelton Simmons and Jansen. (Didi Gregorious was born in Amsterdam but moved to the island at age 5). Jansen has spoken about how Jones’ early-career success helped inspire his own baseball dreams and those of other players.

Health scares haven’t stopped him
After the 2018 season, Jansen underwent heart surgery -- specifically, an ablation procedure -- after suffering an episode of atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm) that August while the team was in Denver to face the Rockies. Jansen previously had undergone another heart procedure after the 2012 season. This second one took 5 1/2 hours and led Jansen to change his diet and shed weight before returning the following spring. He then dealt with a bout of COVID-19 before the start of the delayed 2020 season -- something that was extra scary due to his heart condition. Despite all that, Jansen has continued to be a workhorse, making at least 62 appearances in nine of the past 10 seasons (not counting 2020). No other pitcher can match that.