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.