Why Red Sox Closer Kenley Jansen More Appreciative Of All-Star Nod

Kenley Jansen is familiar with attending All-Star games. The Boston Red Sox closer was selected to the fourth one of his career this season.

But this All-Star appearance feels a bit different for Jansen. The last time the right-handed pitcher went to the midsummer classic was in 2018, capping a dominant stretch in which he was named an All-Star three seasons in a row.

But after struggles on the mound to end his tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers and one season with the Atlanta Braves, Jansen is now on his third team in as many seasons. But he’s thriving nonetheless. With the Red Sox, Jansen has converted 19-of-22 save opportunities while posting a 3.23 ERA to anchor a much-improved Boston bullpen in 2023.

“This (All-Star selection) tastes better to me (than the previous ones),” Jansen told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “I went through good, I went through bad. You deal with struggles and then you find your way back to who you are, your own version of that, a new version. It’s a great accomplishment and makes you feel good.”

Jansen’s in his 14th major league season and although he’s no longer in his prime, he’s showing he can still be efficient and productive. Earlier this season, he recorded the 400th save of his career.

While young stars are popping up all over baseball and taking over the game, Jansen is still making sure he’s relevant. According to Speier, Jansen is just one of five All-Stars — Clayton Kershaw, J.D. Martinez, Alex Cobb and Craig Kimbrel are the others — at this year’s exhibition event who is 35.

“Wow, you got me thinking a little bit right now how crazy it is to stay for so long in this game,” Jansen told Speier. “You’ve just got to put it in a way as a motivation and just keep going. Why stop now? Just keep going and enjoy it.”

Jansen is the lone representative of the Red Sox for this year’s All-Star Game, which is set to take place Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET in Seattle.