Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom sat back on the visitor’s bench at Chase Field this weekend pondering whether any pitcher will ever strike out 3,000 batters again, let alone win 300 games, but ever, so quietly, we’re about to witness a historic pitching feat.
One that hasn’t been accomplished since 2009, and one that we may never see again.
Detroit Tigers reliever Kenley Jansen is on the verge of reaching his 500th career save, a feat accomplished only by Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, who each eclipsed 600.
“Now that I’m getting close to it," Jansen tells USA TODAY Sports, “it’s a wow moment. How did I achieve all of these? It’s unbelievable. It shows you how fast it goes."
Jansen, one of only three active pitchers with more than 300 saves, entered Saturday with 495, five shy of an automatic ticket into Cooperstown.
“I can’t wait to see it," Houston Astros executive De Jon Watson says. “He’s worked so hard to get to this point, maintaining success, and he keeps climbing the ladder. His journey is amazing."
Then again, without Watson, the baseball world may never have heard of Jansen.
Jansen was a 6-foot-5, minor-league catcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization trying to save his career. He had fine defensive skills, but he badly struggled at the plate. He had a .229/.310/.337 slash line with 15 homers in 953 plate appearances in 304 minor-league games.
Watson, the Dodgers’ vice president of player development at the time, visited him at Triple-A Albuquerque and laid down the truth. He told Jansen, who was hitting .185 with no extra-base hits, that if he wanted to be a big-leaguer, he needed to give up catching and covert to being a hard-throwing reliever.
“He did not want to hear it," Watson said. “He was adamantly opposed. I told him to talk to your family, talk to your parents. He talked to them, took a a day, came back, and said, “Let’s go do it.’’’
Says Jansen: “I still remember that day. I didn’t want to pitch, and I told De Jon Watson that I still wanted to catch. I talked with my mom and my dad and then my dad told me that he always wanted to see me as a pitcher. That made it smoother for me."
Jansen was sent to their Class A Inland Empire team in San Bernardino, Calif., to be with revered pitching coach Charlie Hough. He began throwing 95-97 mph in his side sessions, and in his first outing, threw 96-99 mph, and struck out the side.
“Oh my goodness,’’ Hough told Watson, “we may have something here."
Says Jansen: “I remember feeling at that moment this could be something special."
Jansen was called up to the big leagues a year later, posted a 0.67 ERA in 25 games for the Dodgers, became the closer in 2012, and now after 3,844 batters faced, 978 games and 495 saves, he’s on the verge of history.
Who would have imagined that the same man who caught Clayton Kershaw’s first professional game in the minor leagues in 2006, and who recorded his first save in the same game that Kershaw pitched eight shutout innings in 2010, now could be joining him one day in Cooperstown?
“I know when I get my 500th save," Jansen said, “I’m going to get a call from that man, and De Jon is going to say to me, 'So, how about that? You didn’t want to pitch. Now, look at you.’ I know I’m going to hear all about it when I get to 500."
Oh yeah, you better believe it.
“I can’t wait," Jansen said, “because I appreciate him so much for what he did for me. He was always hard on me, and I didn’t understand it at the time, but he saw something special in me. He believed in me before I believed in myself.
“Believe me, I’m not here without him."
– Mike Rizzo, the man who built the Washington Nationals into a power and led them to the 2019 World Series championship, recently had a formal interview with the Athletics for their vacant GM position.
The Athletics, who have also interviewed assistant GM Billy Owens, and have identified James Click, vice president of baseball strategy with the Toronto Blue Jays as a strong candidate, would like to make their hire before the season’s conclusion.
Rizzo, who lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., also has strong interest in the Houston Astros’ GM vacancy, but the Astros aren’t expected to begin their interview process until after their season concludes.
– The Houston Astros are considering shifting Carlos Correa from third base to second base if he’s able to return from his torn left ankle tendon surgery. It would keep Isaac Paredes at third base, move Jose Altuve to the DH role and MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez from DH to left field.
– It will be a disastrous signing for the New York Mets if infielder Bo Bichette opts out of his contract after the season. It would mean that the Mets wasted a cool $42 million, getting precious little return with Bichette having the worst year of his career in the Mets’ ugly season.
The Mets are hoping that Bichette at least stick around another season before opting out of the final year of his three-year, $126 million deal.
– The Athletics, who made wholesale firings on their minor-league development staff, aren’t done yet.
While there have been rumblings in the industry about manager Mark Kotsay’s future, but he has a contract through 2028 and is considered safe.
– The greatest move the Arizona Diamondbacks made since signing Randy Johnson to a four-year, $52.4 million contract and winning four Cy Young awards and a World Series championship was locking up outfielder Corbin Carroll to an eight-year, $111 million contract.
Carroll, an ultimate gamer who constantly plays with nagging injuries, just produced his fourth consecutive season with at least 20 homers, 20 doubles and 10 triples.
The last man to achieve the feat is Hall of Famer Dick Allen, and only legendary Lou Gehrig has done it in five consecutive seasons.
– RIP esteemed baseball executive Joe McDonald, who passed away at the age of 97. McDonald, who won six World Series as an executive, spent 18 years with the New York Mets, including time as their farm director, scouting director and GM. He was later the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. He retired as the Boston Red Sox scout in 2019.
His son, Jody McDonald, is the famed longtime national sports talk show host.
– While former Astros GM Dana Brown is actively seeking to return as an executive as quickly as possible, his Kyle Tucker trade with the Chicago Cubs may go down as an all-time win.
The Astros acquired young budding right field star Cam Smith, slugging third baseman Isaac Paredes and starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski.
The Astros certainly aren’t in first place in the AL West without the trio, and Tucker lasted just one year with the Cubs before signing with the Dodgers.
– Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout went 27 games without a homer, just one shy of the longest drought of his career.
– While the widespread belief is that this will be the Dodgers’ most vulnerable year in the postseason since 2023 with Shohei Ohtani’s injury and slumps with their biggest stars, it’s easy to forget that they still are the heavy favorites to win their third World Series title.
Simply, no one has a better and more feared starting trio of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell.
Snell, who has a fresh arm having pitched just 37.2 innings all season, has been sensational since his return from surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
Snell is yielding a 1.04 ERA with a .126 opponent’s batting average in the six starts since his return, with 46 strikeouts in 34.2 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than one run in any of the starts, and three or fewer hits in four of them.
– Pretty cool that World Series MVP David Eckstein and his wife, Ashley Eckstein, released books simultaneously this past week.
Eckstein’s book, “Just Enough," is about his perseverance and faith that helped him become a 10-year major-league infielder after being drafted in the 19th round and later dumped by the Boston Red Sox. Ashley’s book, “Love 22,’’ is a love story about how she and Eckstein met in Anaheim, almost falling in love immediately, and getting married two years later in 2005.
– Remember when the San Francisco Giants let everyone know that Rafael Devers was available at the trade deadline, and had no takers?
Well, considering that Devers now has 36 homers and 96 RBIs – including 18 homers at Oracle Park, the most by any Giants’ player since Barry Bonds in 2004 – he’s back to being the guy the Giants want to build around.
He’s not going anywhere.
– What happened to that soft schedule of the final 21 games that was supposed to vault the Seattle Mariners into playoff contention?
They entered Saturday having lost four of their last five games to the Athletics and are now 10 games under .500.
Put a fork in them. It’s over.
– The Yankees certainly have a dangerous starting rotation behind Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, but there are red flags emerging.
Max Fried has now gone 11 consecutive starts without a victory, while Gerrit Cole is yielding a 5.96 ERA in his last four starts, giving up 29 hits, including eight homers, in 22.2 innings.
– Congratulations to Tampa Bay Rays 23-year-old All Star Junior Caminero, who became the second-youngest player in MLB history to hit 40 homers in multiple seasons, joining 21-year-old Eddie Mathews.
– Arizona Diamondbacks prized catcher Gabriel Moreno, the gift that keeps on giving in a trade from Toronto, could be in line to become the game’s richest catcher. Moreno, 26, who’s hitting .300 with 12 homers and an .841 OPS, with the second-highest WAR in the National League since late May, is eligible for salary arbitration a second time this winter. He could eclipse the 10-year, $140 million contract Will Smith signed with the Dodgers two years ago if they can work out an extension this winter.
– Remember when Don Baylor, the Rockies’ original manager, was incessant they would not lose 100 games under his watch with baseball’s new expansion team?
They never did. Now, they’re on the verge of losing 100 games for the fourth consecutive season.
– Future Hall of Fame second baseman Jose Altuve produced his 2,500th hit and now along with Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Derek Jeter, are the only players to produce at least 2,500 hits, 250 home runs and 300 stolen bases with a career batting average of .300.
– While the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are on a collision course to determine the National League’s final wild-card berth in San Diego the final weekend of the season, pardon Padres starter Michael King for not appreciating the drama.
“I would much prefer to have a little rocking-chair series and be prepared for whoever we’re playing in the wild card," King told reporters.
Well, considering they have traded spots in the standings six times in the past two weeks, there’s little chance of someone pulling away before that critical series.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From failed catcher to Cooperstown? 500 saves beckons for converted closer
