Braves closer explains why he can’t stop blowing saves lately

Atlanta Braves closer Kenley Jansen explains why he keeps on blowing saves for the team.

Fresh off his sixth blown save of the season, Atlanta Braves closer Kenley Jansen knows exactly what is wrong with his game of late: His delivery is out of whack.

While the 34-year-old right-hander from Curaçao leads all of baseball with 31 saves, his struggles of late have Braves Country experiencing some degree of PTSD from The Will Smith Experience. Although it has not been as bad, Braves fans do not enter the top of the ninth inning brimming with confidence over who is on the mound. Jansen can, and will, get this right, but he is struggling.

Here is Jansen speaking with the Braves media after nearly costing Atlanta the game on Saturday.

Atlanta Braves: Kenley Jansen expounds upon on why he keeps blowing saves

As a surprise to absolutely no one, we all know why Jansen is struggling. When you have a herky-jerky delivery like he does, it is inevitable that a pitcher’s mechanics will get out of whack. For as effortless as it looks coming out of Spencer Strider’s right arm, the exact opposite can be said for Jansen. However, it is his cut fastball and his over-the-top delivery that has brought him success.

Jansen does not throw 100-plus like Strider does. He has amassed 381 career saves, been to the All-Star game thrice, won the Hoffman twice and been a World Series champion because of deception and the movement on his fastball. Since he cannot seem to get the lateral movement he craves, it has only made his persistent up-in-the-zone location so very difficult to navigate.

Because of his motion to the plate, holding runners on is next to an impossibility for him. Since velocity is not his bread and butter at the moment, batters will tee off on static fastballs deep into the night off the struggling Atlanta reliever. When the ball stays up in the zone, is slower than usual and has less movement than normal, that is how 500-foot home runs are created, people!

While Jansen registered saves No. 30 and 31 on the season in between, he blew saves recently in consecutive Saturday nights. From the walkapalooza in St. Louis, to a bloop single being his undoing vs. Miami, Braves Country was thankful for the umpire change delay to remove him from the game vs. the Fish. Tyler Matzek needed only one pitch to record out No. 3 and get the victory.

Jansen is right though, in that he needs to be at his apex in about a month’s time for the playoffs.