Why Dodgers Fans Love: Our Closer Kenley Jansen

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a great core of players, and a talented roster. That’s why Dodgers Nation has decided to run a ‘Why We Love’ series, featuring some of your favorite Dodgers players. Our third installment focuses on possibly the most popular current Dodgers player. In this installment, we focus on why we love Kenley Jansen.

Some players are beloved merely for their performances. Other players are beloved more because of their personalities. Some players manage to be absolute fire on the field AND still be beloved because of their personalities. Kenley Jansen manages to be one of those few. It is a rare find to have a player be a blend of both of those types of personalities. Kenley Jansen delivers the goods on and off the field.

On The Field

Between 2016-17 he racked up 88 saves. If you’re of the mind that the “save” stat isn’t a good measure, fine.

2016 WHIP-   .670

2017 WHIP-   .740

That’s two straight years of having a WHIP under 1. That’s absurd. If you really needed any more, let’s simplify it another way. In 2016 and 2017 he had:

136 IP: 213 K’s, 18BB’s. That’s superhuman. Kenley Jansen is absolutely superhuman.

Off The Field

Kenley Jansen is a family man. He loves his family, and his teammates. He frequently posts on social media with a charisma that even professional media personalities don’t always have. I don’t need to spell this out, in a moment I’ll let Dodger fans spell that out for me.

Dear Natalia, Kaden and soon my baby Jansen #3 – being your papa is the greatest blessing I’ve ever been given. Mi stima mi Famia! I love you so much my family @GianniKJansen. Happy Father’s Day to my dad, to @dodgers dads and to all the dads! #JansenFamily #Blessings #FathersDay pic.twitter.com/98ROf8Brm5

— Kenley Jansen (@kenleyjansen74) June 17, 2018

Why We Love Kenley

AJ Gonzalez: I love that in those exceedingly rare moments where he’s failed or had a bad game, Kenley owns them. Kenley never makes excuses. Where I really love Kenley is actually just his talent. I’ve never seen a cutter like that. I’ve never seen a cutter from a man that size, which so much bite. It slices with more movement than the last time I tried to drive a golfball. Oh, and it goes about 10mph faster (most of the time) than anybody else’s cutter, with more movement. It’s also easy to look past what a great teammate he is, and what a great family man Kenley is.

Clint Evans: “I love Kenley Jansen because as dominant as he’s been for as long as he’s been, he’s down to earth. He loves his family and seems connected to his roots. He’s the perfect California closer. I don’t know how I ever lived with anyone else. Coming out to Tupac is merely the cherry on top. We live a charmed life with this guy closing out wins night in and night out. Kenley Jansen being dependable has directly allowed me to not be more sleep deprecated over the years (being on East Coast time). He is one of the Dodgers I feel most sentimentally strong towards.”

Why You Love Kenley

On the field he’s as fierce as a ?. Off, he’s a giant teddy ? that puts family first, always. There’s really nothing to dislike about Kenleys (??)

— Lindsay Adams (@LAtweets22) June 26, 2018

I love @kenleyjansen74 because #Dodgers games are 8 innings, when he steps on the field my feeling is, We Got This!

— Edwin Deuning ??? ? (@coedv) June 26, 2018

@kenleyjansen74's demeanor. He never seems to get rattled. Even when he struggled earlier this year he kept at it and didn't fold. Many people would have folded under the intense pressure. Kenley just plows ahead with the job – amazing to watch him work.

— Daniel Foley – Go Utes! VGK Dodgers (@dfoleyusa) June 26, 2018

https://twitter.com/EricBraun32/status/1011483892468076544

His number choice speaks volumes. I love he is wearing where he is from. I'm also here for his unshakable game face.

— Andrew Thomas (@obadiahthomas) June 26, 2018

Because his dominant presence on the mound is incredible and you just know he’s gonna shut it down for the win!

— Alex (@alexprudencio1) June 26, 2018

Easy ! The best song for a closer ever! Oh yeah – and a Mariano Rivera cutter .

— Mike Gutierrez (@pressroom1) June 26, 2018

There you have it. As some of the good baseball fans I know would say, “the closer is the closer, because he is the closer.”