Dodgers to activate Kenley Jansen from 10-day DL

The Dodgers have struggled to an 8-9 record in August — a disturbing development for a club that went all-in by acquiring Manny Machado before the beginning of the second half — and much of that has been due to the instability created by the absence of closer Kenley Jansen. The three-time All-Star was placed on the disabled list on August 10 due to an irregular heartbeat, and it was initially estimated that he could miss as much as 4-6 weeks,, with the obvious potential for things to move more slowly than expected due to the severity of the condition.

Jansen’s progress has accelerated significantly over the past week or so, though, and after a visit to the cardiologist on Monday, he’s been cleared to return and will be activated from the DL prior to Los Angeles’ Monday night matchup with the surging Cardinals, as Jansen announced and the team confirmed via Twitter:

The Dodgers’ bullpen was nothing less than horrific during Jansen’s absence; they blew leads or surrendered go-ahead runs in the seventh inning or later for seven straight games from August 9-15, and Dylan Floro was charged with a walk-off balk in their loss to the Mariners on Saturday. While they still have a troubling lack of depth, particularly after trade-deadline acquisition John Axford was placed on the DL with a fractured tibia, Jansen stabilizes things quite a bit at the back of the ‘pen.

Jansen, 30, has a 2.15 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP with 61 strikeouts and 14 walks in 54.1 innings. He has 32 saves in 35 opportunities. After a rough April, he’s allowed just seven earned runs in 34.2 innings since May 1.