Kenley Jansen gets ‘middle news,’ targeting Sept. 18 return.

Kenley Jansen is facing something between a best- and worst-case scenario after learning Tuesday that he must take prescription blood-thinner medication for another 10 days. The 24-year-old closer originally believed he would miss either five days or four weeks; instead he is targeting a Sept. 18 return when the Dodgers visit the Washington Nationals.

“It’ll be a perfect time to come back and help the team,” Jansen said.

Jansen said that he will have surgery as soon as the season is over to correct the cardiac arrhythmia that originally forced him to the hospital last Tuesday. The procedure, called a cardiac ablation, “works by scarring or destroying tissue in your heart that triggers an abnormal heart rhythm” according to the Mayo Clinic website. It is not an open-heart surgical procedure. Jansen said the recovery time is “probably a month, two months.”

“It’s a relief,” he said. “It’s not something you want to worry about every year.”

Jansen hasn’t had a recurrence of the arrhythmia since last week.

“Whenever I’m off the medicine,” he said, “I’ll be ready to roll.”

The Dodgers will continue forward with Brandon League and Ronald Belisario splitting the closer’s duties. Belisario will get the ninth tonight in a save situation because League pitched two innings on Monday.

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.