Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is a big man, not just metaphorically but also physically. In fact, according to his Baseball-Reference page, he is listed at 6′-5″ and 275 pounds.

Not any more.

“It’s all about health,” the gentle giant told reporters during the Dodgers annual FanFest event at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. “I’ve lost 25 pounds. Health is everything.”

As every Dodger fan knows, Jansen underwent an ablation procedure on his heart this past off-season after experiencing an atrial fibrillation episode (irregular heartbeat) last August while the team was in Denver for a series against the Colorado Rockies at mile high Coors Field. The (now) 31-year-old Willemstad, Curacao native was rushed to the hospital and subsequently sent back to Los Angeles for further tests.

“Anytime you’re talking about the heart and irregular heartbeat, you’ve got to be very careful with it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at the time. “You’re talking about altitude. That’s why we want to be proactive and get him back [to Los Angeles].”

Asked how he lost the 25 pounds, Jansen said that he began eating healthier and working out more. Asked specifically what he had cut out in his diet to help him lose that much weight, he gave the answer that we all pretty much knew he would, an answer that caused a number of the gathered media to look down at their own waistlines.

“Sugar … ice cream. It was tough, man, I love ice cream,” he answered.

When Roberts was asked if he liked the new leaner – meaner Kenley Jansen, he was quite emphatic about his All-Star closer.

“I do, I do,” Roberts said. “You know, Kenley had a big unfortunate wake-up call with the heart, and so we took care of that with the surgery, and he’s in fantastic shape.

“And the thing is that you always want of sort of worry about as far as if you lose weight, are you going to lose strength and velocity? But he said that he feels just as strong as he ever has. He’s got more energy than he did before, so we’ll see when he gets on a mound.” Roberts said.

But what if he does lose strength and velocity or he loses even more wight? What then? asked one reporter.

“Go back to ‘In-N-Out [Burger]’,” Roberts answered with a smile and pointing to the ‘In-N-Out’ hat that yours truly was wearing, drawing laughs from the group.

“I think with Kenley – and we’ve seen this with Kenley – it’s not always the velocity, it’s the late movement,” Roberts answered, once again serious. “And so, whether he’s throwing 94 or 90 and it’s straight, he’s a different pitcher whether throwing 90, 94 with that late cut.

“So we’ll see. Health number one and obviously we need that late life in his arm.”

Needless to say, Dodger fans have every reason to be excited and optimistic about the man who many consider to be the best closer in the game since Mariano Rivera, who was elected to the Hall of Fame this past week with the first-ever unanimous vote in baseball history.

Play Ball!

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