Dodgers offense offers sweet 'apology' to Kenley Jansen for scoring so many runs

Kenley Jansen is more than just a reliever for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s their closer, and his primary job is delivering the final outs — and the win — in close games. But Jansen hasn’t had a lot of chances to do that in May. The month is nearly over and he’s gotten just one save.

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And even though that’s disappointing for Jansen, it’s great news for the Dodgers. They’ve gone 19-8 in May and have needed just four saves all month. Plus, after starting the month in third place in the NL West, they’re now sitting at the top. No one on the Dodgers — including Jansen! — is upset about that.

Yasiel Puig and the members of the Dodgers offense don’t feel bad about scoring all those runs (they’re second in runs scored for May), but it looks like they may feel little wistful about denying Jansen all those chances to do what he does best. Especially after Tuesday’s game, which would have been a save situation if the Dodgers hadn’t scored two runs in the ninth inning. And to show how they felt, they put together a gift (or actually a buffet of gifts) at Kenley’s locker.

The Dodgers offense gave Jansen a bunch of candy, and a note that says it’s “a token of [their] love.” And after extensive analysis of the tweeted photo (i.e. enlarging it on my computer screen), I can tell you what kind of candy they left him. On the far left, they gave him what appears to be either Starburst or Now and Laters. Next to that are mini versions of Hershey’s chocolate bars. The next two are chocolate covered pretzels, and then another jar of mini Hershey bars. Behind that, on top of his sneakers, are a bunch of gourmet chocolate bars. That’s an impressive (and impressively delicious) haul.

There’s more in his locker as well. A gum ball machine full of cereal, and enormous boxes of Tootsie Pops and Twizzlers. But it’s not entirely clear if those things were in Jansen’s locker beforehand, or if they were part of the offense’s “sorry we’re so awesome” gift. Either way, Jansen’s locker is absolutely stocked.

And Kenley was absolutely thrilled about it. (Who wouldn’t be?)

The team is playing well right now, and they didn’t have to do anything for Kenley. But it’s lovely that they did it anyway. It was a gesture to thank Jansen for being a team player, and to show how much they appreciate him being ready to come out throwing bullets every night, even if he’s not needed.

And as far as the candy goes, it was an excellent choice. The Dodgers offense has an A+ gift game.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher