Tigers Place Kenley Jansen on 15-Day IL: What It Means for Detroit’s Bullpen and Trade Plans
The Detroit Tigers just lost their veteran closer for at least two weeks, and the timing could not be much worse.
Right-hander Kenley Jansen was placed on the 15-day injured list this week, a development that immediately shrinks an already shaky Tigers bullpen and complicates Scott Harris’ summer planning. Detroit has not announced a specific injury or recovery timeline, which usually means the team is still working through diagnostics. With Jansen, who turns 39 in September, every IL trip carries an extra layer of concern.
Jansen signed with the Tigers in the offseason to provide late-inning stability behind ace Tarik Skubal and the rest of the surprisingly competitive Detroit roster. He has done exactly that when healthy, posting a low ERA and a handful of clean ninth innings. The problem is that the Tigers’ margin for error in the bullpen was already thin. Take Jansen out and that margin disappears.
Manager AJ Hinch has options, but none of them are obvious. Rookie Tyler Holton could see expanded ninth-inning work. Shelby Miller, who came over in a depth move late last year, profiles as a multi-inning fireman more than a true closer. Beau Brieske has the stuff to handle high-leverage spots but has not shown the consistency yet. Hinch is going to mix and match by matchup until Jansen returns or until the front office finds another solution.
That other solution might come from outside the organization. The Tigers are very much in contention in the AL Central despite the cluster of preseason favorites in the division. Skubal is having a Cy Young-caliber season. The lineup, anchored by Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith, is producing runs. The defense is solid. What Detroit needs is bullpen reinforcement, and Jansen’s IL trip just bumped that need from medium priority to top priority on Scott Harris’ trade-deadline list.
The complication is that the Tigers are also fielding calls about Skubal. Multiple reports have identified Skubal as the most likely impact player to be moved at the August 3 trade deadline, with contenders lining up to acquire the lefty before he hits free agency at the end of the season. Detroit has said publicly it does not want to trade Skubal. The market is going to test that resolve.
Jansen’s injury affects that calculus too. If the Tigers stay healthy elsewhere and continue to play meaningful baseball into July, the case for keeping Skubal grows. If the bullpen falls apart and Detroit slides out of the race, the case for cashing in on Skubal becomes overwhelming. Jansen’s status is one of several dominoes that will determine which direction the front office leans.
For now, the Tigers will navigate the next two weeks with a closer-by-committee approach and hope Jansen’s IL stint is brief. The veteran has dealt with various physical issues across his Hall of Fame-caliber career and has consistently bounced back. He has also pitched in postseason baseball more than almost any reliever of his generation, which is exactly the experience Detroit wanted when it signed him.
If Jansen returns at full strength in mid-June, this is a blip. If the IL trip stretches to a month or more, the Tigers are going to have to spend at the deadline to keep their playoff hopes alive. Watch this one closely. A 39-year-old closer’s body is going to dictate a lot more than just save situations in Detroit this summer.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
