Kenley Jansen Shares Injury Update After Throwing Live Batting Practice

Saturday proved to be a great day all around for the Red Sox.

Boston managed to fend off a late-game rally from the Los Angeles Dodgers, which set the stage for a Sunday afternoon rubber match at Fenway Park. But before the Red Sox secured an 8-5 win over Mookie Betts and company, they received a significant development with one of their most important pitchers.

Rather than throwing a bullpen session, Kenley Jansen opted to take the mound for live batting practice before the middle game between Boston and LA. Jansen, who exited Wednesday’s game in Houston due to right hamstring tightness, was clocking 92-94 mph on the radar gun Saturday without the added boosts of a real game setting, per The Boston Globe.

And after finishing the BP session, Jansen deemed himself ready to return Sunday if he’s needed.

“We checked this box today (Saturday) and everything felt great,” Jansen told reporters, per The Globe. “I feel great and we’ll be ready for tomorrow. I just wanted to let it go at game speed to see if the hamstring would grab again. Thank God it didn’t grab. We’ll be ready.”

This obviously is great news for the Red Sox. The wheels nearly come off for Boston in the ninth inning Saturday with its All-Star closer unavailable, so a healthy Jansen should make late-game situations far less strenuous for Alex Cora and company.

The Red Sox and the Dodgers are set to kick off their finale at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, and all of the action can be seen on NESN.