TEMPE, Ariz. — Troy Percival, then a rookie setup man with 26 big-league appearances below his belt, watched from the visiting dugout within the Oakland Coliseum as Lee Smith, then the Angels’ 37-year-old nearer, gave up a walk-off grand slam to Mark McGwire in an 8-5 loss to the Athletics on June 30, 1995.
It was simply the second blown save of a season that started with Smith changing his first 19 alternatives, the burly right-hander displaying few indicators of regression as he neared the tip of a Corridor-of-Fame profession wherein he racked up 478 saves, rating third on baseball’s all-time listing behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.
As Percival headed towards the clubhouse that night time, the impressionable 26-year-old identified for his feisty mound demeanor and occasional mood tantrums within the minor leagues started to ascertain the havoc Smith would wreak on the locker room.
“He came in, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, here we go,’ ” Percival, now 56, stated in a cellphone interview. “Lee sat down, took a deep breath and said, ‘Give me a beer, boy,’ and within a few minutes, he was back to his normal self.
“I’d been beating my head against the wall even in the minor leagues over giving up a hit. That’s when I started paying attention [to Smith]. I began to realize that if you want to have a long career, you have to be ready to deal with failure. Just watching his reaction to failure, even if he never said a word, was huge.”
Percival changed Smith as nearer in 1996 and recorded 316 of his 358 profession saves in 10 seasons with the Angels, nailing down the ultimate three outs of a World Collection-clinching Recreation 7 win over the San Francisco Giants in 2002, and Percival credit the “immeasurable” classes he discovered from Smith as a think about his success.
Three many years later the Angels hope an identical dynamic will play out with Kenley Jansen, the 37-year-old nearer who signed a one-year, $10-million deal on the eve of spring coaching, serving as mentor to 24-year-old right-hander Ben Joyce.
The parallels are uncanny. Jansen, who ranks fourth behind Smith with 447 saves, 350 of them coming throughout his 12-year stint with the Dodgers, is similar age Smith was when he arrived in Anaheim. Smith racked up 434 saves in 15 years earlier than signing with the Angels. Jansen’s 447 saves have are available in 15 seasons.
Angels relievers Kenley Jansen, left, and Ben Joyce participate in drills at spring coaching. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Occasions)
Like Percival in 1995, Joyce is a flamethrowing closer-in-waiting, although Joyce’s warmth, as he has proven in 43 appearances over two seasons, is a couple of levels larger than Percival’s.
Joyce’s four-seam fastball averaged 102.1 mph final season and hit 105.5 on a strikeout of Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman on Sept. 3, the quickest pitch thrown within the majors all 12 months. Percival’s fastball sat between 96 and 98 mph earlier than a degenerative hip situation slowed him in 2004.
“I know Joyce has incredible stuff, but closing ballgames is a different animal, and when you get an opportunity to watch a seasoned veteran do it, it can only help you,” stated Percival, who’s coming into his second season as supervisor for the Pioneer League’s Idaho Falls Chukars.
“That young man, barring injury, has a long career with a lot of saves ahead of him, and he can probably save himself a lot of blown saves just by watching the old guy go out and do it. I hope Ben can wrap his arms around it and take the opportunity to learn what he can.”
Joyce, who assumed a ninth-inning position after Carlos Estévez was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies final July, embraced the brand new bullpen hierarchy, even when which means relinquishing the nearer job and serving as Jansen’s setup man more often than not.
“If it works out that I’m an understudy, I’m all for it,” Joyce stated Thursday. “I’m trying to stay around him as much as I can. Even [Wednesday], he was throwing a bullpen, and I was all up in his space, but he’s been great about it. He’s gone out of his way to talk to me, teach me things, give me pointers. I’m definitely taking advantage of it.”
Jansen was mentored as a younger Dodger by veteran relievers comparable to J.P. Howell, Jamey Wright, Jonathan Broxton, Brandon League and Brian Wilson. When he established himself as a dominant nearer, Jansen mentored younger relievers comparable to Brusdar Graterol, Victor González and Caleb Ferguson.
“I learned from the guys who did it before me — now I have a little experience, and I’m gonna share my wisdom with him,” Jansen stated of Joyce. “This kid is special. He’s throwing 105 mph. He’s fearless, and that’s what we need. Anything I can do to help make him better, I’m going to do.”
What can Jansen train Joyce?
Angels reduction pitcher Ben Joyce throws at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Thursday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Occasions)
“How to deal with situations,” Jansen stated. “How to make sure the game doesn’t get big on you, that it doesn’t speed up on you. How to attack the hitters, knowing who’s in the batter’s box, who’s on deck, who’s in the hole, knowing your strengths, knowing the batters’ strengths, when not to worry about the base runners … a lot of things.”
What can Joyce study from Jansen?
“The possibilities are endless,” Joyce stated. “How does he approach failure? It’s so hard as the closer, you feel like the game is completely riding on your hands, which is an awesome feeling when it goes well. But when it goes bad, it’s definitely tough. How does he bounce back from that?”
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jansen didn’t cope with a lot failure in his first eight seasons with the Dodgers, when he went 24-13 with a 2.08 earned-run common and 230 saves in 474 video games. However when he struggled for stretches over his ultimate 4 seasons in Los Angeles (2018-21), he was compelled to confront failure.
Jansen has thrived on baseball’s greatest stage, with a 12-9 file, 2.20 ERA and 20 saves in 59 postseason video games, however he additionally set a World Collection file along with his fourth profession blown save in 2020 towards Tampa Bay, watching from the bullpen as Julio Urías notched the ultimate seven outs of the Dodgers’ series-clinching Recreation 6 win.
“Sometimes, you can’t take it as a negative — you have to take it as part of the learning process,” stated Jansen, who went 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 54 video games for the Boston Pink Sox final season, changing 27 of 31 save alternatives, putting out 62 and strolling 20 in 54 ⅔ innings.
“You have to learn from your failures and move on. Your mindset is, how strong can you be mentally? I started developing that after [a 2017 World Series loss to Houston], going into 2018 and 2019. Those are the years I learned so much about myself, and I feel like I’m a better pitcher, a better man, now than I was at the beginning of my career.”
Joyce additionally plans to watch how Jansen approaches the extra mundane “day-to-day” elements of the job.
Angels reduction pitcher Kenley Jansen takes half in spring coaching at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Thursday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Occasions)
“How does he approach the game, his pregame and postgame routines, his recovery?” Joyce stated. “You obviously have to put a lot into it to be able to pitch that many games over 15 years.”
Jansen spends the primary three innings watching the sport on a clubhouse tv to see how hitters are approaching pitchers. Then he goes to the coaching room to finish his stretching routine earlier than heading to the bullpen within the sixth inning.
That can set slightly higher instance for Joyce than Smith set for Percival. Smith was so laid again he usually napped on a clubhouse sofa or within the coaching room for the primary 4 or 5 innings earlier than heading to the bullpen.
However with a 6-3 lead over the Cleveland Indians within the eighth inning of a July 26, 1995 recreation in Anaheim, supervisor Marcel Lachemann appeared into the bullpen, and Smith wasn’t there.
“It was my job and Rick Smith’s job to wake him,” Percival stated, referring to the athletic coach. “I ran back to the clubhouse, and Lee’s on the couch sleeping. I nudged him, and he said, “Cookie Dough, what’s the sco?’ I said, ‘It’s 6-3 in the eighth.’ He said, ‘Get my shoes, boy!’ They were already on the golf cart.
“He gets down to the bullpen, he might have had four throws, not one of them a pitch off a mound, and he went out and retired the side in the ninth on six pitches.”
Jansen smiles and shakes his head in amazement and amusement because the Smith story is relayed to him.
“Wow, that’s impressive, that’s unbelievable,” Jansen stated. “But it’s probably something I’ll never do.”
A sleeping large, Jansen is just not, however the established and achieved veteran might play an outsize position within the improvement of the Angels’ potential subsequent nice nearer.
“He feels like when we have the lead and the bullpen gate opens, the game is over, he expects to win,” Joyce stated of Jansen. “That’s the mentality you need to have in that position. I’m really excited to watch him in person and learn from him.”
