The Tigers announced that right-hander Kenley Jansen has been placed on the 15-day injured list with pelvic inflammation. Left-hander Drew Sommers has been recalled to take his place on the roster.
Jansen has been dealing with a groin/abdomen issue for a few weeks. The Tigers announced on May 2nd that he had been day to day due to that ailment, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. From April 30th to May 9th, he only made one appearance, giving him a semi-rest period without a trip to the IL.
He was able to pitch for the past few weeks but the issue flared up again last night. He entered the game in the ninth with Detroit up 4-0. He faced three batters and recorded two outs but was laboring and eventually exited after a visit from the trainer. Brenan Hanifee came in to get the final out.
Perhaps due to the injury, Jansen hasn’t been having his best season. Signed to an $11MM deal in the offseason, Jansen has a 4.80 earned run average through 15 innings. His 30.6% strikeout rate is quite good and a big jump from last year’s 24.4% pace but he is also walking 14.5% of batters faced. That’s well above his 7.8% career rate and last year’s 8.1% clip.
Ideally, taking the time to heal up will get him back on track. Though he’s now 38 years old, Jansen has continued to be an effective reliever. He racked up 29 saves for the Angels last year, posting a 2.59 ERA in the process.
More to come.