Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He converted from a catcher to a relief pitcher in the minor leagues, and made his major league debut in 2010. Jansen has served as the Dodgers\' closer since 2012, and led the National League (NL) in saves in 2017. He is a three-time MLB All-Star and two-time NL Reliever of the Year (2016, 2017).\n', '

Jansen was born in Willemstad, Curaçao, the youngest of three sons of Isidor and Bernadette Jansen. His father worked in construction until suffering a stroke when Kenley was 12; his mother is a travel agent. Jansen began playing baseball at the age of six, alongside his brothers. He began as an outfielder before moving to shortstop. Jansen then met Andrelton Simmons, and was shifted to third base. He later played first base and catcher. \n', '

Jansen was signed as an undrafted free agent catcher by the Dodgers organization on November 17, 2004, and was assigned to the Rookie Class Gulf Coast Dodgers, where he played in 37 games and hit .304 before being promoted to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League on August 26. He had two hits in 11 at-bats in three games for Ogden. He was back with the Gulf Coast team the following season, hitting .245 in 35 games. After the season he played for the North Shore Honu in the Hawaii Winter Baseball League, where he hit .121 in nine games.\n', '

Return to Kenley Jansen Autograph Profile