Jansen is currently dealing with discomfort in his ribs and hopes to avoid being placed on the injured list.

Kenley Jansen, the Angels' closer, informed reporters prior to today’s game against the Reds that he has been feeling pain in his left ribs.

The closer explained that he hurt himself during a weight room session, and the injury has impacted him in both of his last two outings. Jansen appeared visibly exhausted in Monday’s game against the Athletics, walking two batters and needing 28 pitches to get through the inning. On Wednesday against the Reds, he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk, taking the loss.

“In my last two outings, I haven’t been able to get set. I just can’t rotate because the pain is so intense,” he said. “Pitching like that isn’t any fun at all.”

During the top of the ninth inning on Wednesday, after Jansen loaded the bases, acting Angels manager Ray Montgomery and a trainer visited him on the mound, but Jansen refused to leave the game.

“This is my inning. Those runners are my responsibility,” he told Montgomery. “I’m going to get us out of this.”

“He’s been in this situation before. We saw it on Monday,” Montgomery said. “He managed to get through it. Out of respect for him, we gave him that chance.”

Even after the loss, Jansen had no regrets about pitching through pain on Wednesday.

“That’s just who I am. I care about my teammates, man,” he said. “I don’t want to put any of my teammates in the position I’m in. ... If I feel like I can get the job done, I’ll push through the pain, and the worst part is, I didn’t get it done. But I’m not going to blame it on the injury or anything else. I didn’t do my job yesterday, and I lost the game.”

“We’ll treat the area, and I’ll be back out there,” he said.

The 37-year-old veteran has been a steady presence in the Angels' bullpen this season, and his numbers reflect that. His 3.00 ERA is his lowest since 2021, and his 23 saves rank sixth in the American League. Jansen is currently 30 saves away from reaching 500 in his career.

Both Jansen and Montgomery are optimistic he can avoid the injured list, with Jansen noting that the situation isn’t serious enough at this point to require an MRI.

He has already undergone four days of treatment, and after resting today and tomorrow, he’ll have his ribs re-evaluated on Saturday.

“I’m going to fight through this injury,” Jansen said. “I’ll get as much treatment as I can, and then we’ll see how things go.”