The Braves announced Tuesday that closer Kenley Jansen has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to an irregular heartbeat. The move is retroactive to June 27. Right-hander Jesus Cruz has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take his spot on the active roster.
It’s a worrisome ailment for Jansen, though this is far from the first time the 34-year-old has dealt with the issue. Jansen has thrice been placed on the injured list due to irregular heartbeats — once in 2011 and again in both 2017 and 2018. He’s had a pair of cardiac ablation procedures during his big league career in hopes of corralling the issue, though it seems he’s not yet entirely out of the woods in that regard.
The Braves’ announcement didn’t include a timetable for Jansen’s return, although his most recent IL placement for this issue, back in 2018, resulted in a minimal 10-day absence. The Braves are surely hopeful for a similarly quick return this time around, although the obvious broader hope is that, regardless of Jansen’s availability on the baseball field, he can remain in overall good health and eventually move beyond episodes of this nature entirely.
Jansen, in his first year with any organization other than the Dodgers, has been quite good. The three-time All-Star carries a 3.58 ERA through 32 2/3 innings, and secondary metrics like FIP (2.18), SIERA (2.07) and xERA (2.12) feel he’s been considerably better than that earned run average would indicate. That’s due largely to Jansen’s brilliant 36.4% strikeout rate, his strong 6.2% walk rate and his continued ability to limit hard contact better than nearly any pitcher in the league (86.5 mph average exit velocity, 28.4% hard-hit rate).
Taking Jansen’s place on the roster in the short term will be the 27-year-old Cruz, who pitched six innings of one-run ball for the Braves earlier this season. The former Cardinals minor leaguer has been similarly sharp in Gwinnett, where he’s notched a tidy 2.45 ERA with a sensational 24-to-1 K/BB ratio through 14 2/3 innings of relief.
Scary stuff! Hope he’s okay.
People live with afib for years. As long as the ventricles are not involved, he will be fine. He will probably need a pacemaker though once he retires. WIsh him the best – albeit MFer choked the game few days ago.
Why does everyone expect closers to be perfect? It’s amazing.
Because they are paid to be perfect?
Then that was the buyers mistaken expectations. Jansen hasn’t been bad just not that good. Nobody should have expected him to be the Braves closer but apparently the Braves did.
Paid to be perfect? Guess no one is earning their pay then.
In fairness he choked because he refuses to learn how to hold baserunners. It’s a little harder to swallow when he’s letting the tying run automatically make its way into scoring position.
I don’t expect perfection. That said, I don’t expect 90 feet gifts from my closer either.
Mariano Rivera, who wasn’t perfect, but at times close to it, sort of gave everyone unrealistic expectations. The amount of complaints you hear about very good closers is exponentially higher than the anount of complaints you hear about good starting pitchers or hitters.
This… The most fans have silly expectations paired with very little knowledge about the players they’re talking about. Closers just take all the beating because when they have a bad night it costs you a game. hen anybody else has a bad night you have the rest of the game to make up for it.
I think it’s the emotional sting of a blown save. It hurts way more being walked off in the 9th then blown out by 10 early in the game
I don’t think I ever saw Rivera easily flustered as with Kenley. He’s not the same pitcher with a man on base as he is with none on.
Exactly. I think every fan base thinks their closer is unreliable.
If a starting pitcher has a bad inning the team still has a chance to recover. On the rare occasion a closer has a bad inning, that’s usually the end of the game and a loss. That’s the lingering feeling from that game.
@Jmchale Blowing a save when down to the last strike also stings a little more than normal
Maybe the problem isn’t with KJ and others but with the stupid expectations put upon this made up position of “closer”. As if ANY pitcher can be perfect one inning at a time in high leverage situations.
Afib is scary but you learn to live with it. Ablations are risky., as the cardiologist makes clear to you each time you go through the procedure (3 times for me). I final could not see going through the risk again. Keep up with your warfarin, Mr. Jansen, and you will be fine..
To hell with warfarin, switch to Eliquis.
That is right. Mr. Jansen needs his green, leafy vegetables.
To hell with warfarin, switch to Will Smith, that way the irregular heart beats will switch back to me. Every time he came in last year, he put my heart on notice.
I was on a halter monitor 40 years ago, somehow grew out of it. Something in your life has to change, I changed it in time for me, so can Jansen.
As much as I want to scream and yell and cry and yell some more, it is just so difficult for me to hate on Smith. He was terrific in the playoffs last season and it is hard for me to forget that.
Hooe Kenley gets this back under control. Good man and a good player. As a note…Pacemakers are for bradycardia not a a fib. Ablation or watchman device have the best evidence. Eliquis is safe but if you close the left atrial appendage you don’t need it because stroke risk is significantly reduced. Warfarin is literal rat poison and there is 0 reason a guy making 16mil a year would be on that
Smith has a bad habit of walking or letting the first man on base, It’s a good thing the Braves have him to fall back on, Braves were aware of Jansen’s medical situation. It’s all good.
At first, it sounded like it’s Wolff Parkinson Syndrome as it describe his cardiac ablation in a different article (espn) . It’s extremely rare it would reoccur after the ablation tho.
Had my first cardiac episode at 15, BHP was over 225 and I had been just sitting in Spanish class. Reoccurred once or twice after that over the next few weeks after I had been in the hospital. I was completely misdiagnosed and given a heart medication I took for a year had no further issues.
Had an attack at working sitting at my desk at 25, they took me straight to the hospital. I got a good cardiologist this time, surgery a few weeks later have been good for nearly 8 years now.
I remember the Dodgers sitting him occasionally when they visited Coors field for this reason. Hopefully he’ll bounce back!
BOS doing something similar with Tanner Houck right now, while they’re visiting TOR.
Tanner Houck is on the restricted list bc he’s not legally allowed to enter Canada bc he’s not vaxxed… Not really the same thing as sitting your active closer voluntarily bc of concerns about him pitching at a high altitude. Or Boston’s choice at all really…
Where’s Waldo?, have they found that fool yet?
Waldo was found making out with Carmen Sandiego
Isn’t Toronto close to sea level? Weird comment.
Scary, man. Wishing the best, Kenley.
Good vibes to the man. Hope it’s nothing that lingers
Get well soon. Thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery. Go Braves!
Jesus, take the wheel.
as a long time braves fan, and have a AFib since 2006 I do have a pacemaker in 2010 he will be okay. unless he changes his routine, he will not get used to the pitch clock next season.
I wonder if players can apply medical exemptions to the pitch clock.
Prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery.
no one expects closes to be perfect but when you strike out the first two batters and have one out to get that’s a choke job
All the best to him…
I think Jansen has done a pretty good job this year. The problem is Oday with his 85 mile an hour fastball.
Get well soon. Baseball becomes such a tiny thing when compared to big picture of health, happiness and loved ones.
I think Jansen has done a pretty good job this year. The problem is O’day and he’s 85 mile an hour fastball.
THRICE.
Always destroys my Padres but have the utmost respect for him. He’s on a Rivera and Hoffman track and may be the third to eclipse the 600 mark, which would be exciting. That said life is far more important than stats and baseball and he’s in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery and peace through this. Wish him the best!
You think a 34-year-old Jansen can get 230 more saves?
Best wishes to Jansen.
Kirby Yates still targeting August for a return? I know they wouldn’t instantly count on him as a closer, easing him back in to stressful IP, but that signing looks even bigger now.
Get off and stay off all products containing Caffeine. Read the label before you purchase it or put it in your body.
I am not giving up caffeine. Of course my heart is fine, I just have gout.
Big fan of this site, usually I don’t post but some things need correcting.
Firstly, Jensen does not have Afib, he has a birth condition called WPW (Wolff Parkinson’s White Syndrome) which creates an extra pathway in the heart, similar to Afib.
The main difference is Afib will continue to grow depending on how your heart works, but WPW is usually ablated and done but has some scary conditions.
I too was a closer, never made it to MLB, but was recruited by Tony Gywnn when he was at San Diego State. I had WPW, I got it ablated a few years ago, and I still get irregular heartbeats, but my cardiologist told me to stick to a low-dose beta-blocker like Atenolol to control the rhythms.
More than likely with Jensen, either his ablations didn’t get the entire pathway, and why he’s had multiple ablations, or something he’s doing keeps it manifesting. This could be something as simple as a Monster or Rockstar Energy drinks over a long period of time. For me a while, I had to quit anything caffeinated including coke, coffee, or any energy drinks.
For Jensen, if he still wants to play he needs to make some lifestyle changes, and I would think by now he has a good cardiologist and an electrophysiologist and should be on some sort of beta-blocker. If he’s having anything that I did on his EKGs, he is seeing a delta wave.
Great post!
Thanks man! Was looking for this. Also I haven’t had a single issue after my ablation. I probably drink way too much caffeine now but I’m on no medications 8 years later
You’re welcome! There are a lot of athletes who have had WPW or still have it. Some can function with it, while others can not. In my case, my heart rate was going 200+ BPM at rest, so I had to have EMTs reset my heart rate, which actually made my healing process worst. For me personally, the entire operation was about 6 hours long, to blast our WPW took about 36 seconds what my doctor said. Mapping of the heart took the longest. In my case, he looked for other pathways and didn’t find any, just one. In Jensen’s case, my guess is that he has multiple pathways. An EKG will prove that.
Notable Cases of WPW:
– LaMarcus Aldridge (NBA)
– Nathan Eagleton (Rugby)
– Quentin Groves (NFL) – Died
– Dan Hardy (UFC)
There is also a known extra of WPW called Re-Entry of the Ventricular Arrhythmia also known as Vfib. This one is dangerous, as it pretty much means you are dead in about 20 minutes. Usually, WPW is found in the upper chambers of the heart, not the bottom but like Quentin Groves who died at 32, he had WPW in the lower chambers, which caused a VFib condition.
Medical Study (Athletes): journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2006/10000/wol…
Yeah, it’s about that time of year for Kenley.
Uh oh. More tears from Freddie coming
Hope Jansen’s health is okforget baseball. However, I knew it and said it back in March! FREDDIE’s AGENTS SCREWED HIM!!! Derosa said it best. “Sinful dude isn’t a Brave”. How bout those Kershaw comments too? Freeman will do his job but he doesn’t and didn’t want to be a Dodger. Braves Country still misses you 5!!!
He overplayed his hand and thought the Braves would bend over and let him take all their money. He’s an aging asset. They went younger. They offered him a deal and he wanted more years and more money. Idc how much of a “Brave” he is. Baseball is a business. They wanted Olson but also gave Freddie a VERY nice offer. He jerked them around and wanted more, and they went with Olson.
He needs to get over it. Either be 100% in with LA or demand a trade.
Either way, if I’m a dodger, I’m very annoyed with Freeman right now. All those guys are 100% on board and wanna be there and win a chip. Imagine having your big free agent acquisition crying like a little girl over his former team
Boy oh boy, Braves are dropping like flies. Can’t say that I’m upset, every team goes through it.
Ohhh and btw folks….. Swanson’s agents are Excel.
best wishes, big guy. Heart and family are more important than baseball.
I really hope he mends quickly and they figure out why this continues to happen to him. In most cases, they can fix this issue; worst case scenario is a pace maker.
I still can’t believe the Dodgers let him walk this past offseason and then pivot to Craig Kimbrell as their closer for $17M this season! At this point in their careers, Jansen is by far the superior player. I was hoping that Boston signed him this offseason. Had they done so, they’d most likely be 20 games over .500 as Boston still leads the league in blown saves the last time I checked. There was a point in mid to late May where Boston had more blown saves than actual saves! Houck has seemed to get this under control a little bit but Jansen would have looked really good in a Boston uniform this year. Get better soon, Kenley!
Wasn’t a pivot
Kimbrel for Pollock was just ledger gymnastics that arose organically with the Dodgers keeping a mindful eye on the 2023 CBT a year early
My guess is that the Dodgers won’t own a 8 figure AAV RP for a long long time after this year and didn’t even want to this year by choice. They’ve started grooming that pen internally/cheaply better now than they have in 25 years. No need to sink budget/roster spaces out there anymore
Considering it’s the Braves organization, I wonder if he’ll also get laser eye surgery?
Well played!