The Tigers' 26 blown leads are the most of any team in Major League Baseball. More than the Angels, more than the Rockies, Detroit — the team expected to run away with the AL Central — has a particular penchant for ruining a good thing.
The blame can be attributed to any number of things. The defense, for failing to come through behind their pitchers; the offense, for failing to make up the difference. At the end of the day, though, the blame falls on the bullpen.
Kenley Jansen's performance on Sunday could not have made that point clearer. The Tigers and Astros were tied at three apiece going into the 10th. Jansen, who pitched a scoreless ninth, gave up four runs. The offense could only muster up two runs at the bottom of the inning, and Jansen was credited with the loss.
Jansen's signing was largely heralded by fans. He wasn't the exact same closer he was in his best years with the Dodgers, but his 2.57 career ERA spoke for itself, and he's a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame.
But after that showing on Sunday, Jansen has a 5.31 ERA in 20 1/3 innings this season and should be toward the bottom of the bullpen trust tree.
Kenley Jansen's signing is turning out to be one the Tigers' worst offseason moves
Jansen passed Lee Smith for third on MLB's all-time saves leaderboard on April 14. That's probably what his season with the Tigers is ultimately going to be remembered by, but it will not change the fact that Jansen has a lot of harm this season. He's blown four save opportunities and is credited with four losses.
He's sitting a 485 career saves, and fans would love to see him get to a round 500 in a Tigers uniform. Even if this is probably just the last stop in a storied career that was mostly spent in LA, we were all hopeful this year would be the feather in his cap.
Instead, he's not only been untrustworthy, he's also been injured. Signing him and re-signing Kyle Finnegan took Will Vest out of the closer role that he deserved and arguably broke him beyond repair.
We can't even fault Scott Harris for signing him, though. All signs pointed to Jansen still being able to do some good work on the mound for Detroit. His inability to live up to expectations has just been another knife in the heart of what was supposed to be the Tigers' season.
