Kenley

Jansen

Jansen is expected to head out on a brief minor league rehab assignment next week. The 38-year-old veteran stopper hit the injured list with pelvic inflammation back on May 28. His return will shore up the back-end of Detroit’s bullpen.

Kyle Finnegan and Will Vest would appear to be the options to replace Jansen, with Finnegan the vastly preferred one since he’s pitching much better at the moment. It wouldn’t be surprising if this became a committee while Jansen is out. There’s no word yet on how long we should expect Jansen to miss, but it wouldn’t be surprising if this injury knocked him out longer than the minimum stay on the injured list.

Jansen was checked on by a trainer early on while protecting a four-run lead in the ninth inning, but managed to stay in the contest. He recorded two quick outs before issuing a four-pitch walk to Mike Trout, which led to his removal from the contest. Brenan Hanifee came on to record the final out following his departure. The 38-year-old veteran stopper will undergo further evaluation and possibly imaging to determine the severity of the issue. Kyle Finnegan would be the next man up should Jansen require a trip to the injured list.

Not great. Jansen was lifted from the ninth inning of a save situation after issuing a two-out walk to Mike Trout. There should be an update on his status shortly. Brenan Hanifee came on to record the final out following his departure.

Jansen was called upon to bail out Kyle Finnegan with two outs in the eighth inning and he was able to get Pete Alonso on a pop out to end the inning. He had trouble in the ninth though, issuing one-out walks to Jackson Holliday and Leody Taveras. He then allowed a pair of stolen bases to put both runners in scoring position for Cowser. Jansen got ahead of him 0-2 before grooving a sinker that Cowser pulverized. Jansen has now converted just seven of his first 11 save chances on the season.

This wound up being a strange situation because Tigers manager A.J. Hinch opted to use closer Kenley Jansen against the heart of Cleveland’s lineup to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning before giving the ball to Vest to face the bottom of the order. That gambit backfired as Vest surrendered back-to-back singles to Daniel Schneemann and Travis Bazzana before Patrick Bailey delivered a game-tying ground out a couple batters later. He managed to strike out Brayan Rocchio to preserve a tie ballgame, but the damage was already done. Cleveland went on to score a couple runs in extra-innings and close out a comeback win.

Jansen made it look easy in this one, retiring all three hitters that he faced including punchouts of Yohendrick Pinedo and Kazuma Okamoto. He then became the beneficiary when the Tigers walked it off in the bottom of the frame. For the season, the 38-year-old closer holds a 3.97 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 17/5 K/BB ratio across 11 1/3 innings while converting seven of his first 10 save chances.

Jansen closed out a bullpen game which featured six Tigers pitchers, with none of them throwing more than 2 1/3 innings. It’s Jansen’s seventh save of the year and 483rd all-time.

Kyle Finnegan, who notched a save on Thursday in place of Jansen, seems like the clear favorite to take over temporarily as Detroit’s closer since Will Vest is hitting the injured list with forearm inflammation. The 38-year-old veteran stopper hasn’t pitched since surrendering a walk-off homer to Matt Olson in a blown save against the Braves on Wednesday. It’s possible this turns into an injured list situation if Jansen isn’t ready to pitch early next week. Certainly, Finnegan should be picked up in all fantasy leagues.

Well, at least it was over quickly. Jansen faced two batters, didn’t retire either, and squandered a one-run lead in the process. His game-losing pitch to Matt Olson was especially rough: a cutter that spun in the middle of the zone like it was on a tee. This is not consecutive blown saves for him after closing out five in a row.