Bacardi Untameable - Casey Janssen's unrelenting transition from starter to closer

When Casey Janssen steps onto the mound, the California kid who relishes in the calm, carefree attitude of his home coast is gone. As much as the 32-year-old loves the Golden State beach life, he hates to lose.

The right-hander methodically circles the mound after each out. His breathing is calculated and thought out. To an observer, the rigid routine to earn another save is far from a laidback approach.

People say I’m such a different person in the ninth inning than I am in life. How I flip the switch is kind of interesting and crazy at the same time.

Since taking over for Sergio Santos as the team's closer early in 2012, Janssen's masterful control of the ninth - his fastball rarely breaks 90 mph - is responsible for 74 saves. His streak of 24 consecutive saves, dating back to 2013, was snapped on May 29 against the Kansas City Royals, when a fielding error by shortstop Jose Reyes allowed the tying run to cross the plate.

Long before Janssen knew that playing baseball professionally could ever be more than California dreaming, he did it all. One day, when it won't interfere with his day job, he'd like to take up golf again.

Janssen thrived on the diamond in high school when he set aside his other interests. He hit .410 as a senior, setting single-season school records for home runs, RBIs, and triples. He recorded a 2.12 ERA in 40 innings, striking out 56. 

I kind of joke, but I feel like my parents put me in sports to tire me out so I’d come home and sleep at night and make their lives a little bit easier. I was doing everything as a little kid. Running around non-stop, as much as I could.

At UCLA, a season-ending knee injury in his sophomore season made the transition to pitching permanent, and two years later, he was selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft as a starting pitcher by Toronto. 

When Janssen got the call in 2006, he fulfilled the role he was drafted to do, making 17 starts for the big club. When Spring Training rolled around the next season, he was the set-up man. Nothing he’d gone through compared.

I wasn’t ready at all for it. As it turned out, that was the only way I was going to make the team that season, so I said, sure, I’ll do whatever it takes so I can stay in the big leagues.

Mentally, Janssen likens working out of the bullpen to studying for a pop quiz. You may or may not take the test, but you have to be ready.

It was a little bit of a transition on the wear and tear of your arm, but I loved the fact that showing up to the park every day, I had an opportunity to get into the game. As a starter, after the day you pitch, you sit around for the next four days and you can’t help. You just have to sit and watch which is a weird feeling.

Though Janssen sustained a career-altering knee injury in college, tearing his labrum was another fork in the road. The biggest toll wasn't physical, either.

The labrum is such a weird surgery. I had a couple of people tell me, hey, you may not recover from this. You may never pitch in the big leagues again. That was kind of a motivation but also a reality check at the same time. 

I remember my dad told me during my surgery, maybe now that you have some free time, you can think about life after baseball. I told him never say that again, I was 26. It was a hard thing to hear. 

It’s something that was the opposite of what you want your support group to say. It hit me like, OK, he’s looking out for my best interest, but I want him to say you’re going to get back. I told him I didn’t want him to say anything negative because I’m coming back from this thing.

The Blue Jays tried to have Janssen work his way back from the surgery as a starter because he was injured pitching out of the bullpen. A setback in his rehab prompted yet another shift back to the pen so his workload could be more closely monitored, and he could be rested when he needed it.

I’ve been in the bullpen ever since. My arm’s adjusted to it, I think I’ve found my home and found my niche and my craft. I love it. There’s no looking back. I’m trying to ride it as long as I can.

I love the fact that I can show up everyday and have the opportunity to pitch. I have a great passion for the game, and I hate to lose.

Janssen’s focus doesn’t waver from his day job. The ninth inning is his, and he’s enjoyed quiet dominance in the American League East, with results as good as those whose fastballs are harder and garner more attention than his efficient work does.

The end of the 2014 season, whether in September or October for the Blue Jays, is Janssen’s next unavoidable roadblock. He’ll be a free agent for the first time in his eight-year career. He hopes his consistency will appeal to Toronto and other teams around the league.

Have I thought about it? Yes. Am I trying not to think about it as best I can? Absolutely. I want to finish this season as strong as I can, and as healthy as I can, hopefully with a World Series championship. That’s first and foremost.

Looking around the home clubhouse before the series finale with the Baltimore Orioles on August 7, the mood from this central vantage point is overwhelmingly positive. It's clear that showing up to work here is fun right now.

If we can get hot, we’re as good as any team in baseball. We’re close in the wild card and in the division, and sitting here, I think that excites every single one of us that it is so real and so close. Once we get into the playoffs, anything can happen and I think we can absolutely hold up the trophy at the end.

And if the tides go his way, Janssen would still love to get his first major-league hit.