Los Angeles Dodgers: Players that must be better to win the World Series

2. Kenley Jansen

Perhaps the best news that came out of the Los Angeles Dodgers Fan Fest was that Kenley Jansen was completely healthy following his offseason heart surgery and that he even dropped a significant amount of weight.

This is not even great news from a baseball standpoint. Jansen’s health, especially something as scary as heart issues, is far more important than anything he can do on the baseball field. I wouldn’t bat an eye if Jansen retired today if there was any sort of risk, even minimal.

As of now, it appears that Jansen is in a good state, which will also help his baseball performance. Last season was not great for Jansen and the Dodgers were missing their lockdown closer.

Jansen had one of the most dominant seasons by a closer ever in 2017 and was mediocre in 2018. It was his inconsistency and the bullpen not stepping up when he was out that led to the Dodgers winning far fewer games than they should have.

Jansen also let up some big hits in the postseason and did so in the 2017 World Series as well. In fact, you can argue that it was Marwin Gonzalez‘ home run off Jansen in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series that made the biggest difference.

The Dodgers do not need the record-setting Jansen to come back in 2017 but need someone that can return back to his consistent self and most importantly continue his regular season success into the postseason.