The Tigers took a calculated swing on Kenley Jansen last offseason, handing the veteran closer a clear role in a bullpen that featured three natural ninth-inning options. Jansen, the most established of the group and nearing 500 saves when he arrived, was the obvious choice to handle the job from the start.
The deal itself came together on December 13, 2025, when Jansen agreed to a one-year contract worth $9 million. The Tigers also included a team option for $12 million with a $2 million buyout, a structure that was seen at the time as a nudge to get him to Detroit over other suitors.
For a long stretch, it looked like that option would be an easy pass. Jansen’s season was uneven, and before June 1 his performance gave plenty of reason to think the Tigers would move on. But his final month-plus changed the picture enough to make the decision less straightforward.
Over his final 30 appearances, which covered 28 of his 45 innings, Jansen posted a 2.57 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. In his last 13 2/3 innings, he was even sharper, turning in a 1.35 ERA with a 0.53 WHIP. That finish was a major contrast to the rougher stretches that shaped the early view of his season.
The ugly part of the line came in concentrated bursts. Jansen’s 4.56 ERA before the turnaround was dragged down heavily by 5 1/3 innings in losses and two blown saves. In those 5 1/3 miserable innings, his ERA ballooned to 20.25, while in every other inning he worked, he posted a 0.91 ERA.
Even when opponents did damage, it wasn’t always coming from the middle of the order. The nine-hole produced the best OPS against him at .952.
The six-hole gave him the most balanced damage, hitting .273/.360/.545, with Nate Lowe occupying that spot during the Reds matchup on April 24th. Still, no other lineup position produced an OPS above .800 against him, and six spots were held under .700, including a .255 mark from the seven hole.
The pitch that defined Jansen’s year was still the cutter, and hitters had a hard time doing real damage against it. He threw the cut fastball 83% of the time in 2026, and it remained a difficult pitch thanks to 6.3 inches above average in vertical break, 15.5 inches of vertical run, and his 7 foot extension off the rubber.
The result was a 24.6% swing and miss rate on the pitch. Overall, he struck out more than 28% of the batters he faced, his best strikeout rate since 2022.
The cutter’s actual results were strong too. Hitters managed only a .167 average and .316 slugging percentage when the at-bat ended on that pitch. The expected numbers were higher, but still respectable: a .213 xBA and .385 xSLG.
By the end of the season, some of the contact metrics had cooled from where they sat around the trade deadline, but Jansen still did a solid job of limiting damage. He posted a 38.1% hard-hit rate, matched roughly the same barrel rate he had in 2025, and finished with an expected batting average of .194.
Still, the finish came with some warning signs. His xERA was .40 higher than his actual ERA, and his xSLG was .58 higher than his actual total, a gap that suggests a few more balls in play could have turned into doubles or home runs. That matters even more when a reliever is walking hitters at a 12.8% clip, because those free passes can quickly snowball.
So while Jansen wound up looking more dependable than the frustrations of the season might suggest, that does not automatically make him part of the Tigers’ future. The numbers show a pitcher who settled in late and did a lot of things well enough to help the bullpen.
They also show why the Tigers should be careful not to read too much into the ending. Scott Harris and company still may be better off filling those innings somewhere else.
In Other News...
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It is the kind of early housekeeping that usually signals more than just a pair of departures. The Tigers spent part of the season reshaping the roster by trading Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers at the deadline and also dealing Casey Mize, so the next phase now looks aimed at the dugout and the coaching room as much as the clubhouse. With Skubal's future in Detroit already a topic of speculation, the organization appears to be entering a winter where familiar names may not be done with the franchise, even if the staff around them keeps changing. [Read more 🡒]
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Anderson is the easier decision to map out, because his late-season work gave Detroit a legitimate reason to think of him as part of the future rotation. Jansen presents the more complicated call, even if the direction seems obvious on paper: the Tigers are likely to favor continuity where it has helped and move on where age and performance are working against the return. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Face A Tough Roster Call As Young Talent Pushes Through
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Elsewhere in the system, the organization has begun lining up the next wave of options, with Brett Callahan, Ben Malgeri, Max Anderson and John Peck all mentioned as possible future contributors. For a club trying to build a deeper, more flexible roster, the question is no longer just which veterans to keep in place, but how much room to preserve for younger players forcing their way into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]