On Friday, the Dodgers commence a three-game series with the first-place Rockies in a crucial series between division rivals. Los Angeles traveled to Denver without star closer Kenley Jansen because of an irregular heartbeat, which bothered Jansen during the team’s last trip to Denver in early August. The Dodgers will obviously miss one of their best pitchers in hitter-friendly Coors Field, but having him probably isn’t worth the potential long-term damage to his health.
Why did Jansen follow his doctors’ advice and decline to travel to Denver for the three biggest games of the season? The answer doesn’t lie in the catchall term “irregular heartbeat,” but in the medical jargon of arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation.