LOS ANGELES – In the summer of 2010, a hefty, strong-armed pitching prospect was called up from the minors by the Dodgers and handed off to the coaching staff, who took him out to the bullpen to see what they had.
It took just a few pitches into the session for the bullpen catcher that day, Mike Borzello, to suddenly realize he was seeing a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon – for the second time.
Kenley Jansen’s natural, “straight” fastball had dramatic, late cut to it every time he threw it.
“It was a Mariano-type cutter,” said Borzello, who 12 years earlier as a Yankees bullpen catcher watched Mariano Rivera stumble upon the same natural action on his four-seam fastball one day in Detroit.
“It’s the exact same action at the same velocity,” said Borzello, now in his fifth year on the Cubs’ coaching staff. “I’d never seen it before Mo, and I haven’t seen it since, till that day.”
Jansen this week credited Borzello with helping him develop the pitch into a major-league weapon with the kind of command that makes him one of the best closers in the game.
“He would throw it, but he didn’t know where it was going,” said Borzello, who used the template for workouts and drills he used with Rivera to help turn Rivera into perhaps the greatest closer of all-time – by sheer ability to locate the one unique pitch.
Jansen still has an average slider he can use as a show or chase pitch, but, said Borzello: “Overall, he’s like Mariano, you have this pitch, its all you need.”
Now what?
“It’s the same thing with [Clayton] Kershaw,” said Borzello, who worked with that young left-hander early in his career. “Who knew that six, seven years later that they were going to be standing in my way. And they’re both unbelievable.”
If the Cubs don’t win this series, it may well be Jansen recording the final out.
Can Borzello use his knowledge of the right-hander against him?
“Not really,” he said. “I don’t know how you combat it. It’s the same with Mariano. There’s not much you can do. You hope he leaves one [in the] middle or one doesn’t cut as much as it usually does and you get lucky. Or you somehow get into a hitter’s count and he’s got to bring it on the plate more, which gives you a slightly better chance.
“But it’s a tall task.”
