GLENDALE
Jake
Smolinski Jersey , Ariz. (AP) ¡ª Kenley Jansen¡¯s numbers are down, but in a
good way.His fastball velocity has dipped for now, but he figures it will
return. And besides, he said, ¡°The radar gun is overrated.¡±The most important
figure is 25 ¡ª the number of pounds the Los Angeles Dodgers closer lost in the
offseason ¡ª which he says is why he feels like he¡¯s in better shape
overall.Jansen pitched his first Cactus League inning on Sunday, retiring the
Texas Rangers on 12 pitches.Jansen threw 10 strikes, getting one strikeout, and
pitched around an error. His fastball topped out at 92 mph, about 3 mph slower
than his usual high.¡°The normal me in spring training,¡± Jansen said. ¡°Sometimes
the radar gun can get you in trouble. I learned my lesson last year. I wasn¡¯t
ready. Next thing you know, the ball didn¡¯t have life (out of my hand).¡±Jansen
said he¡¯s focusing more on his legs, and ¡°not trying to muscle the ball.¡± He
credited pitching coach Rick Honeycutt for the change in philosophy.¡°He¡¯s the
best. He makes it so much easier for us,¡± Jansen said.Jansen had surgery in
November to correct an irregular heartbeat that sidelined him last August before
he returned late in the season. He had a similar procedure in 2012.Now 31, he
decided to shed some weight because of the heart problem and his career-high
3.01 ERA. Since joining the Dodgers in 2010, his ERA is 2.20.¡°I feel great. I¡¯m
proud of myself. I want to play this game for a long time,¡± Jansen said. ¡°I had
a great
offseason
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working out, losing all this weight. It paid off today.¡±Manager Dave Roberts
said Jansen will next work in a game on Wednesday. Jansen doesn¡¯t expect this
spring to be much different than his usual approach to getting ready.¡°I usually
try to get 8-10 innings,¡± he said.NOTES: Roberts said SS Corey Seager is doing
well in his continued rehab from elbow and hip surgery that caused him to miss
the 2018 season. ¡°Right now, he¡¯s in as good a spot as we could have hoped,¡± the
manager said. Seager, the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year, played in an intrasquad
game, getting four at-bats. He also took some ground balls and ran the bases. ¡
Clayton Kershaw played catch on Sunday, ¡°ramping up the intensity,¡± Roberts
said. The manager said the Dodgers ace is back on track after cutting a workout
short early last week with left shoulder discomfort. ¡ Walker Buehler had his
first bullpen session on Sunday as the Dodgers continue to carefully monitor his
workload. The right-hander, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, threw 160
innings as a rookie last year between the regular season and his start in Game 3
of the World Series. ST. LOUIS (AP) ¡ª Thrilled with the results, the St. Louis
Cardinals thanked Mike Shildt.The Cardinals took off the interim tag from
Shildt¡¯s title and promoted him to full-time manager through 2020, a reward for
steering the team back into postseason contention after replacing the fired Mike
Matheny.¡°Why now? We could have waited but we feel like the time is right,¡±
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said Tuesday at Busch Stadium.
¡°As we stated from Day One, we would use this time to really see how he handled
the job. We just felt like we could not do better. Mike has shown he can do the
job. Mike checks a lot of boxes along the way.¡±¡°It made sense to do it now.
Everything is going
well
Chad
Pinder Jersey , and more importantly momentum is building behind our
players. Having Mike Shildt as manager is a tremendous story. I hope the next
chapter is even better,¡± he said.The story got off to a good start when the
Cardinals scored a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates to give Shildt his
first win without the interim tag.¡°It¡¯s great,¡± said Jedd Gyorko about Shildt¡¯s
promotion. ¡°He deserves it. We¡¯re playing really good baseball and he¡¯s leading
the charge behind that. We¡¯re pumped for him. He definitely deserves it.¡°Behind
closed doors, he¡¯s a great guy to play for and he¡¯s an even better person.¡±Jose
Martinez belted a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Cardinals the
lead and they never looked back.¡°I¡¯m actually happy for him,¡± Martinez said
about Shildt. ¡°He¡¯s a guy who¡¯s been working hard his whole career as a manager
and a coach and everything. He¡¯s really professional in everything he does.¡°I¡¯m
going to try to keep hitting homers to try and make him happy 100
percent.¡±Rookie pitcher Jack Flaherty picked up the win to improve to
8-6.¡°Everybody in here is excited,¡± Flaherty said. ¡°I think his biggest thing is
for everybody to be themselves and he¡¯s done the same thing. I¡¯m just happy for
him.¡±In danger of missing the playoffs three straight years for the first time
since the late ¡¯90s, the Cardinals have gone 26-12 since July 15 ¡ª the most wins
in the majors during that span. A 19-5 mark in August has put them into the top
spot in the NL wild-card standings.¡°I have been given a lot of credit for what¡¯s
happened in the past six weeks,¡± Shildt said. ¡°I appreciate it, but I cannot
accept it. The players make the plays and run the bases. They are a special
group and I¡¯m glad to be a part of it.¡±The Cardinals were 47-46 when Matheny was
fired a day before the All-Star break. They¡¯ve cut their deficit in the NL
Central from 7 1/2 games to 4 1/2 behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs.¡°The
team¡¯s focused, high-level style of play under Mike is a standard that his teams
consistently displayed during his prior years in the minors, and it has
continued here at the major league level,¡± Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.
said. ¡°We¡¯ve won, certainly, but he¡¯s got great relationships with the players.
We all watch the games and my observation is, I think his game strategy is
excellent.¡±The Cardinals made the move before hosting Pittsburgh. St. Louis has
won five of six, all on the
road
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and have won each of their last nine series overall.¡°What a privilege and honor
it is to be the field manager of the St. Louis Cardinals,¡± Shildt said. ¡°Mo had
a vision for my career far greater than my own and I¡¯m very grateful for
that.¡±The 50-year-old Shildt, who never played in the minors or majors, joined
the Cardinals organization in 2004. He spent most of that time managing in the
minors and was a member of the major league coaching staff the past two
seasons.Shildt became the 50th manager in franchise history when he was given
the job on an interim basis.St. Louis missed the playoffs the last two years.
Matheny reached the postseason in his first four years since following Tony La
Russa, who guided the Cardinals to the 2011 World Series championship.An
organization that has longed prided itself on playing the game right ¡ª ¡°the
Cardinal Way,¡± the team says ¡ª St. Louis has done well in all phases since
Shildt took over.¡°I think there¡¯s a different energy here now,¡± general manager
Mike Girsch said. ¡°There¡¯s a different energy around everything in the
clubhouse.¡±With veterans Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenter provided a steadying
presence and an influx of rookies and newcomers, the Cardinals are back in
position as October contenders.Second baseman Kolten Wong has seen the
difference, especially since the switch in the dugout.¡°Shildt¡¯s been really good
at letting us play our own game and letting us play the way we want to play.
That¡¯s the biggest thing,¡± Wong said last week after a sweep at Dodger Stadium.
¡°We have so many different personalities and different guys in this clubhouse.
You just have to allow people to be themselves and eventually people are going
to mesh together.¡±Cardinals closer Bud Norris said Shildt is an easy guy to play
for.¡°Most guys are comfortable with him,¡± Norris said. ¡°He has a relationship
with every last person on this team and even around the clubhouse on a personal
level, and he can communicate with everybody. The fact that he cares about you
personally off the field, and he cares about you on the field is a big part of
that. You just feel warm when you¡¯re around him.¡±In his minor league managing
career, his teams went 471-432. The North Carolina native managed for eight
seasons in the Cardinals farm system where his clubs won league championships in
2010 and 2011 with Johnson City of the rookie Appalachian League and in 2012
with Springfield of the Double-A Texas League.