Kenley Jansen’s latest bout with an irregular heartbeat left the Dodgers closer more irritated than scared, he tells ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne. Jansen had dealt with similar heart issues in 2011 and 2012, the latter resulting in heart surgery. After the problem arose again last month, his immediate reaction was that “I thought my season was over. I’m like, man, f— this. Not again. We’re trying to go back to the World Series. I have a chance to win another Trevor Hoffman award. Man!” Shelburne’s piece details how Jansen dealt with the heart problem that evening, and how he has been trying to balance staying healthy while also making an earlier-than-expected return to the field.
Interestingly, Jansen noted that he likely wouldn’t be playing if the Dodgers weren’t in contention. “To tell you the truth, I wanted to have the second surgery right now so we could just fix it and I’d know everything was OK,” Jansen said. “But I know what an opportunity our team has this year and my responsibilities here.” That second surgery could come after the season is over, though while Jansen continues to play, he is sitting out the Dodgers’ road series against the Rockies this weekend on doctors’ recommendation, as his last two irregular heartbeat episodes occurred while in Denver’s thin air. Jansen is hopeful, however, that he would be cleared should the Dodgers end up facing the Rockies in a postseason series.
Here’s more baseball news from around the Golden State…
- With Wil Myers still very much a work in progress at third base, “the Padres seem to be leaning toward moving” Myers between positions in 2019 rather than make him a full-time option at the hot corner, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Myers has spent much of his six MLB seasons at first base or right field, though he has also played multiple games as a center fielder (33 starts), left fielder (28 starts) and third baseman (18). Of course, he has yet to provide much defensive value wherever he has played, though if Myers is at least a passable option at multiple positions, the Padres can shift him around the diamond every day while opening up playing time for others. For his part, Myers feels he is making progress at his latest position and feels he can still contribute to the team as a primary third baseman.
- The Giants should explore the idea of trading Madison Bumgarner this offseason, ESPN’s Buster Olney opines. Bumgarner is controlled through the 2019 season via a $12MM club option that is sure to be exercised, and the Giants would certainly get a good return for even just one year of the star lefty’s services. Of course, the team declined offers for Bumgarner at the trade deadline and has given every indication that it plans to contend in 2019. Olney, however, sees parallels between the Giants and the Phillies teams from earlier this decade, who suffered for holding onto a veteran core too long rather than recognize that a rebuild was necessary. Keeping Bumgarner next season or extending him may not make sense, Olney feels, for a Giants team that could soon face its own rebuild.
