Dodgers three-time All-Star closer Kenley Jansen met with members of the media in the Dodgers spring training clubhouse at Camelback Ranch on Saturday morning … and he opened up.

Man, did he open up

In addition to spending 20-plus minutes sharing his strong thoughts and opinions on the Houston Astros cheating scandal, the 32-year-old Willemstad, Curaçao native also came clean on his personal issues that knocked him from being the best closer in the game to being one of the least best, and who does that these days?

“I got to accept that I wasn’t at my best, and I’ve got to push through it to become a better pitcher,” a very serious and sincere Jansen said. “Figured out some stuff. It went well. Learned to get back to where I used to be.

“My delivery changed so much, and you don’t even know that until they put all that stuff on your body and you figure out you lose eight percent on the cutter, eight percent on the rising,” he added. “They give you exercise to put you back in position to fire the ball again.”

When asked how all of this came about and how he “figured out some stuff,” Jansen caught the gathered media by surprise with his (very) detailed answer: He worked out during the entire offseason at his home in Curaçao and went to Driveline Baseball, the data-driven baseball player development program frequently touted by popular (and occasionally unpopular) 29-year-old outspoken (and fan-favorite) right-hander Trevor Bauer, who was drafted by Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of UCLA. Bauer, who was born in North Hollywood, CA and was a standout athlete at Hart High School in Santa Clarita, CA, has his own (very) popular radio show on MLB Network Radio (XM channel 89, Sirius channel 209) cleverly called Bauer Hour. (Author’s Note: Bauer recently lit into the entire Houston Astros organization – including individual players – for their respective roles in the sign-stealing scandal, earning him high praise throughout the entire baseball world … well, except in Houston, that is).

As a result of his extra offseason work and time at Driveline, Jansen says he is back to the Kenley Jansen of 2017.

“It feels like the ball has life on it. That’s what everybody’s telling me,” Jansen explained. “One thing I see, [the ball] doesn’t go down, it stays in one lane.”

As for the physical side of things, Jansen was equally explicit.

“To stop throwing and start it up again, sometimes you feel all achy,” he explained. “This time, I took the approach of continuing to throw [throughout the offseason] so my arm would stay in shape. Personally, I kind of feel better.”

When Dave Roberts was asked on Saturday morning about the importance of having the Kenley Jansen of old back in camp, the Dodgers skipper had this to say:

“It’s vital. It’s vital,” Roberts said, clearly excited. “To have a guy at the back end with his pedigree, it’s vital.”

Roberts also explained that Jansen’s performance issues were the result of a strained left hamstring he suffered during spring training of 2018 and continued to struggle with last season.

“As he felt healthy, things were compensated and he wasn’t finishing and the ball doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do,” Roberts explained. “Overlaying ’17 with ’18 and ’19, a light bulb went off. He’s where he needs to be. There’s a cutter to a right or left-handed hitter; now there’s a two-seamer he can run off the barrel off a lefty or in on a righty that he trusts, and a breaking ball with depth he feels he can strike [with] early in the count or get back into a count.”

Welcome back, Kenley!

…and thank you, Trevor Bauer.

Play Ball!

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