Don Mattingly isn’t going to use Kenley Jansen in the closer role, but it’s probably for the best
The Dodgers handed Brandon League a three-year contract and the closer’s role heading into the 2013 season, but his predictable fall from temporary grace in the role has led to continued questions about his viability as the closer, especially with Kenley Jansen waiting in the wings.
It’s easy to see why questions are being asked, as any comparison between the two relievers...
Week 7 Closer Report: Kenley Jansen, Huston Street
Another week goes by and it looks like another job may be lost in Los Angeles, but Donny Baseball is being vague about things. Also, a few firsts occurred this week, as in first blown saves of the season. Besides that, it was a pretty quiet week for closers. Sink your teeth into this week’s rankings as we’ve named the tiers after a Philly favorite in honor of Jonathan Papelbon’s...
Here’s Kenley Jansen wiggling out of jam to get Zack Greinke the win in his return
After giving up back-to-back bloop singles to put runners on first and third to start the top of the eighth inning, Kenley Jansen managed to wriggle out of trouble without allowing a run and blowing the lead.
Here’s how:
Also, he’s good at baseball:
Kenley Jansen Not Brandon League Gets Save For Dodgers
With one out to get to preserve Clayton Kershaw‘s fourth win of the season Dodgers manager Don Mattingly chose Kenley Jansen over Brandon League. League has 6.28 ERA and has surrendered runs in seven of his last 10 outings.
Mattingly gave League a cautious endorsement on Monday when asked if the right-hander was still the closer.
“Yeah, for now he is,” Mattingly said. “I...
Could A Closer Switch Be On The Horizon For Los Angeles Dodgers?
Change is brewing in the bullpen of the Los Angeles Dodgers 36 games into the 2013 season.
The position of closer was given to Brandon League during the offseason when he signed a three year, $22.5 million contract. League came over to the Dodgers for two prospects in a late season trade in 2012 with the Seattle Mariners. At the end of the season the closer job was League’s as...
Paul Goldschmidt Homers Twice In D-Backs Win
Paul Goldschmidt was again a one-man wrecking crew against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Goldschmidt hit two home runs, one off Clayton Kershaw in the sixth inning, two-run shot and then one against Kenley Jansen in the eighth that gave Arizona the lead. Overall he has posted a .320/.413/.592 slash line with nine home runs and 30 RBI.
“You got to go up there and have good at...
Recap: Game 20 - Dodgers (3) at Mets (2) - Rice Takes Loss
Final123456789RHE
L.A. Dodgers (10-11)«100000002361
N.Y. Mets (10-10)000001001250
W: K. Jansen (1-0) L: S. Rice (1-1) S: B. League (6)
HR: LAD - None NYM - I. Davis (4)
Recap:
Andre Ethier hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers, boosted by a sharp outing from Hyun-Jin Ryu, defeated the New York Mets 3-2 Thursday.
After Ryu and Mets...
Rank relief: Dodgers give up the first of two games because Kenley Jensen stopped pitching
Kenley Jansen is possible the best non-closer reliever in the game. He had already recorded four outs and then the Dodgers brought in Paco Rodriguez and Ronald Belisario. They did not pitch like Kenley Jansen. With the game tied at 5, the following happened:
Rodriguez only got a shot at the AL home run leader, Chris Davis, before Belisario came in. The total damage: 2...
Injury Roll Call: Greinke out 8 weeks, Hanley’s cast comes off, Jansen’s heart back to normal
Zack Greinke has a broken left collarbone because Carlos Quentin is an imbecile.
The initial timetable is eight weeks following surgery, and Greinke has traveled back to LA to visit with team doctor Neal ElAttrache and go under the knife.
A CT scan of the left clavicle showed that Greinke needs a rod placed to stabilize and align the fracture. The surgery will be performed Saturday...
Ask Nash: Sleeper Closer Candidates
Photo courtesy of slgckgc
Nash,
I play in a 10 team, 5×5 roto points league. NL players only. I opened the season with only Jason Motte for a closer and it looks like he might be headed for Tommy John surgery. I need a reliever who has a good chance of taking over the closer role for a while on an NL team. I have Antonio Bastardo for Philly and Mark Melancon for the Pirates. The...
Game Four Summary: Dodgers 3 – Pirates 0
In what was probably the most anticipated debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers since Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke made his first appearance at Blue Heaven on Earth Friday night.
And he did not disappoint, leading the Dodgers to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He gave up just two hits in six-and-one-third innings.
He retired the first five batters he faced before...
Making Moves: Opening Day roster officially set, four head to DL + seven released
The Dodgers officially finalized their Opening Day 25-man roster.
The 25-man roster, as broken down by position:
Pitchers (12):
Josh Beckett
Ronald Belisario
Chris Capuano (L)
Zack Greinke
Matt Guerrier
Aaron Harang
J.P. Howell (L)
Kenley Jansen
Clayton Kershaw (L)
Brandon League
Paco Rodriguez (L)
Hyun-Jin Ryu (L)
Catchers (2):
A.J. Ellis
Tim Federowicz
Infielders (6):
Luis Cruz...
Dear Mr. Fantasy Baseball Podcast: March 26, 2013
It’s relief pitcher time, which means The Dear Mr. Fantasy Podcast has made it around the diamond and out to the bullpen. Previewing all other positions, they turn their attention toward saves. Special guest is Howard Bender from Rotowire and Fangraphs.
Show notes are below:
Chris and The Doctor start by playing “Who’d You Rather?” where they pick between two players...
Clutchitude: Least Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Pitching
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics.
WPA
Most sabermetric statistics are context neutral — they do...
Clutchitude: Most Clutch Plays By The 2012 Dodgers – Pitching
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics.
WPA
Most sabermetric statistics are context neutral — they do...
2013 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers – NL West
Here is the sixth article in the series of 2013 fantasy baseball sleepers. While the term “sleeper” has lost some of its luster with so much information available on the internet and whether you want to use the term “sleeper” or a value selection or profit performer, these players can provide you good value or better than expected value based on where they will be drafted...
Injury Roll Call: Guerra, Billingsley, Jansen updates + Hanley’s knee + Belisario exists
Rick Honeycutt provides updates on the health of Clayton Kershaw, Javy Guerra, Chad Billinglsey, Shawn Tolleson, and Kenley Jansen.
“Clayton was great, outstanding,” said Honeycutt. “But he was outstanding his last three starts, so that wasn’t a surprise. Shawn Tolleson had a little back tightness, but he threw a ‘pen. So did Josh Wall and Javy Guerra, who isn’t as far...
Dodgers' Kenley Jansen Completely Recovered From heart Surgery
The Los Angeles Dodgers may not use Kenley Jansen as their closer in 2013, but they will have him in their bullpen. And he will be healthy. Jansen is feeling good and off blood thinners. He says he is completely recovered from the surgery he had last October after an irregular heartbeat was discovered.
According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Jansen...
TOC Top Ten: Right-Handed Relief Pitchers
Here we are folks, the end of the TOC Top Ten. And what better way to end our countdown with the top ten right-handed relievers? There are really some special relievers in this group, and not all of them are the closers that you're used to seeing at the end of games either. Middle relievers that are dominating have become a valuable commodity in today's game as well, and...
Trade With Nomo's Sushi Platter: Two New Kershaws and A Plethora of Random Goodness.
I completed my seventh trade with Spiegel of Nomo's Sushi Platter. You can check out our first here, second here, third here, fourth here, fifth here, and sixth here. Mike sent over some awesome player collection additions, beginning with two new Clayton Kershaws which take my Kid K Kollection beyond 170 unique cards.Next up, a bunch of new Chase Utleys. A Dodgers' draft...
2012 Los Angeles Dodgers Season Review: Relief Pitcher
Kenley Jansen
Kenley Jansen entered 2012 as the set-up man with elite stuff, freed up to face the opponents’ best hitters should they be due up before the ninth inning. It was the perfect scenario, considering the closer role is a vastly overrated entity. Though Jansen was slotted correctly, he quickly found himself as the closer following some early struggles in that role by Javy...
10 Things We Learned About Los Angeles Dodgers This Season
The 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers failed to live up to expectations but succeeded in painting a very bright picture for the future. Despite finishing 10 games over .500 at 86-76, the Boys in Blue fell flat in the postseason race for the third consecutive season. However, through their 2012 roller-coaster campaign, 10 things have certainly become clear moving forward. Here they are. 1...
Around The Web: League Contract Reaction, Engle/Guerrero On Staff, Injury/Transaction Update
Baseball America: Dodgers have hired Patrick Guerrero as their Latin American coordinator.
Guerrero, who lives in the Dominican Republic, will run the organization’s scouting throughout Latin America. The Mariners had fired Guerrero as their Latin American coordinator earlier this month at the same time they announced that Bob Engle, their vice president of international scouting...
Dodgers Ink Brandon League for 3 Years — Not Done Yet
After the impressive closing out of the season in replacement of Kenley Jansen, Brandon League has earned himself a 3-Year $21 million deal with the Dodgers.
With Jansen out with an irregular heartbeat and despite his season ending surgery to correct it, the Dodgers are keen to keeping League as the closer in the new season.
Among the bullpen which ranked 4th in the national league...
Dodgers' news: Kenley Jansen, Shohei Otani, Yunel Escobar, Andres Santiago
Kenley Jansen underwent successful heart surgery on Tuesday. His recovery time will be three to four months.
Hopefully, this solves Jansen's issues, as he's missed time the last two seasons with this. Barring anything unforeseen, he should be ready to go for 2013. And the Dodgers are going to need him anchoring the bullpen.
Otani update
Chad Moriyama has a great...
THE DODGERS HOT 25
| Latest Rumors | The Backyard | Going Viral |
|
|
Today's Best Stuff |
For BloggersJoin the Yardbarker Network for more promotion, traffic, and money. |
Company Info |
Help |
What is Yardbarker?Yardbarker is the largest network of sports blogs and pro athlete blogs on the web. This site is the hub of the Yardbarker Network, where our editors and algorithms curate the best sports content from our network and beyond. |
