Kenley Jansen regrets nothing even though he exacerbated his injury in an Angels loss to the Reds on Tuesday.
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In what is shaping up be another lost season for the Los Angeles Angels, closing pitcher Kenley Jansen has remained defiant, looking to squeeze every bit of winning baseball he could from his team. But his defiance can be both admirable and self-destructive. In his single-minded desire to help the Angels win, he decided to play through injury on Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds — ending up costing his team the game and himself some valuable field time in the process in a 6-4 loss.
Jansen was already experiencing rib discomfort on Tuesday, but when he received the call from interim manager Ray Montgomery, there was only going to be one answer: he will trot out to the mound no matter what. But even after costing the Angels the game and potentially landing him in the injured list after exacerbating his rib injury, Jansen regrets nothing.
“That’s who I am. I care about my teammates. I don’t want to put any of my other teammates in position to come in with the bases loaded. I feel like I’m still gonna deal with the pain. I feel like I can get the job done. The worst thing is, I didn’t. But I’m not going to blame myself on injuries. I didn’t get the job done yesterday. I lost the game. We’ll treat this part and be back out there,” Jansen said, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
It’s clear that Jansen is beloved within the Angels locker room as he is willing to do whatever it takes to win. He is a proven winner who was the closer for a Los Angeles Dodgers team that was consistently in the playoffs, and he’s carrying that same level of pride wherever he goes.
And it’s rare these days to see someone prepared to figuratively die on the battlefield just to get his team a chance at a victory.
Age is catching up to Angels’ Kenley Jansen
This may be a bit difficult to believe, but Jansen is already in his 16th season in the big leagues. And he’s been a positive for his team in all of those seasons, being a beloved member of the team in the process. The Angels locker room will definitely speak highly of the 38-year-old veteran.
But for now, Jansen is dealing with an injury. However, for him, this is nothing he hasn’t experienced in the past and he’s sure that he’ll bounce back from this the same way he’s done with other forms of adversity.
“I’m gonna fight that. I’m gonna try to get as much treatment as I can and we’ll see how it goes,” Jansen added.
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Category: Baseball
