Kenley Jansen: ‘I’m a closer because I’m Latino’

By César Augusto Márquez

Growing up in the global village, you get to choose your identity.

“I’m a closer because I’m Latino,” Dodger relief pitcher extraordinaire Kenley Jansen says.

Born in Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, Jansen speaks multiple languages and feels at home anywhere in the Caribbean, just like many of his countrymen in the major leagues.

He’s big and nasty, 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, considered the best closer in Tinseltown and the National League two years running after once again receiving the Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award this past weekend.

And while no pitcher has been invulnerable in this insane World Series between Los Angeles and Houston, the Dodgers forced a Game 7 after Jansen pitched a two-inning save to secure a 3-1 victory on Tuesday and knot up the series, 3-3.

Jansen was his usual efficient self, needing only 19 pitches to wrap it up while striking out three.

“To take the mound in close games, you have to be strong and it helps to be Latino, to be hot-blooded,” Jansen said in Spanish in an interview with La Vida Baseball.

“Our islands have a lot of Latino influence — that’s why I feel Latino. We are very close to Venezuela, but we’re also Caribbean. We have the Puerto Rican culture, the Dominican culture. For example, while I like to eat everything, one of my favorite foods is ropa vieja (Cuban shredded beef).”

This is 21st-century baseball. Some of Jansen’s favorite players growing up were Venezuelans Edgardo Alfonzo (Mets) and Melvin Mora (Mets, Orioles) and he followed the Navegantes del Magallanes in Venezuela’s winter league. He enjoyed Cuban food and listening to Gilberto Santa Rosa and other Puerto Rican salsa singers — all while admiring a rather singular Panamanian pitcher.

And because of his healthy appetite, Jansen grew into a bigger and meaner version of his idol, Mariano Rivera, the legendary Yankees closer whose name is now on the AL Reliever of the Year Award. Like Mo, Jansen relies on a cut fastball, except that his comes in much harder, closer to 98 mph. He also mixes in a slider in the low 80s.

What makes Jansen lethal is movement and control. He saved 41 games this season while striking out 109 and allowing only seven walks in 68.1 innings. His 1.32 ERA is amazing enough, but his 318 ERA+ was off the charts, better than in any of Rivera’s best seasons and making him twice as good as the average reliever in 2017.

“I always admired Mariano Rivera,” Jansen said. “It thought it was incredible how he dominated batters. When I became a reliever and later a closer, I made my goal to be like him. Our style is identical; we both rely on one pitch.”

Jansen’s big thrill on Saturday before Game 3 when he received his award was meeting Rivera in person. Rivera is known for his Christian charity work and Jansen wants to be like him in every aspect.

“I also admire Mariano for what he’s done off the field and because he’s a family man,” Jansen said.

The respect is mutual.

“There’s really not much we have to talk about, mostly about personal things,” Rivera said in Spanish in an interview with La Vida Baseball. “He’s today one of the best closers in the major leagues. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger, especially in how he goes after batters. He’s fearless, and I was exactly like that.”

Looking back now, how could the Dodgers have considered making Jansen a catcher or first baseman when they first signed him? Tonight, against the Astros in Game 7, Kenley has a chance to match Rivera and close out a World Series.

And if he does, he will be the King of Closers. And not because of where he came from, but for what he has become.

Featured Image: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Sport