Dodgers activate Jansen weeks ahead of schedule
Guess who's back? Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen.
He was expected to miss at least a month of action after he was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat, but he's returning Monday after missing less than two weeks.
Jansen said he's no longer on blood thinners after his cardiologist appointment and is ready to return well ahead of schedule.
"I'm ready to go," he said, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. "... I don't need to be babied."
The Dodgers confirmed Jansen's return in cheeky fashion:
.@kenleyjansen74's back. Tell a friend. https://t.co/03uvYz3646
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 20, 2018
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he'll immediately return to his customary role as the team's closer.
"He's excited," manager Dave Roberts told Gonzalez. "He seems like he's ready to pitch two innings tonight. We'll temper that."
Jansen is 90 percent sure that he'll need another heart ablation procedure in the offseason, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, but echoed Roberts' assertion.
"It's go-time now," Jansen told DiGiovanna. "If they need me for a three, four, five-out save I'm ready."
His early return is excellent news for a Dodgers team that has gone 4-6 over its last 10 and now sits in third place in the NL West, trailing the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks by two games.