When the Dodgers and Angels face off, you know it’s going to be intense. Saturday’s game at Dodger Stadium was no exception.

Players are expected to go all out when a win is at stake—pitching with everything they have, hitting homers, and sometimes even leveraging every obscure rule in the book. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday’s game, it was anything but ordinary. When the Angels’ reliever made an unexpected move against none other than Shohei Ohtani, it turned heads.

Have you heard of intentional balking? If you watched the Dodgers vs. Angels game, you do now. It’s when a pitcher deliberately balks to move the base runner from second to third base. It’s controversial and very rare in MLB, but definitely not for Angels’ closer Kenley Jansen.

Kenley Jansen commits an intentional balk to force Ohtani to 3rd after Ohtani refuses to go to 3rd
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When Jansen walked onto the field in the ninth inning, he had one goal: Protect the lead at all costs. The Angels were leading by 11-9, and he was just one out away from sealing the win. With Mookie Betts at the plate and Ohtani on second base, Jansen did something unexpected—he issued an intentional balk.

The strategic call moved Ohtani to third base, effectively avoiding the risk of stealing signs. And guess what? It worked perfectly. Shortly after the balk, Jansen induced Betts to line out to center field, sealing the win for the Angels. For Angels fans, that brilliance was enough to shower him with praise.

Can you blame them? That was iconic, to say the least.

Fans are in awe of Jansen’s genius move

It’s never a dull game at Dodger Stadium, especially when two of Tinseltown’s teams face off. But Saturday’s game grabbed headlines thanks to Kenley Jansen’s brilliant strategy against his former team. While some critics questioned the legality of the controversial nature of induced balking, it didn’t matter to the fans. Saying they were “thrilled” would be an understatement.

“Kenley to Shohei, the umps, and Wash: I’m balkin’ here!” Not only did it surprise those watching, but even those on the field were confused. Jansen was caught mouthing to Ohtani, “I’m balking you to third.” Hearing this, even Ohtani looked clueless for a moment, but then proceeded. Not only he, the Angels’ manager, Ron Washington, came out of the dugout in disbelief. But the move was clearly strategic, and fans knew why Jansen did it.

“He didn’t want Ohtani relaying signs. Really smart move, and I believe he did this before against the Cubs.” This fan wasn’t wrong. Jansen had used the same tactic before, but in the Dodgers uniform. Back in 2019, he issued an intentional balk to prevent sign-stealing while playing against the Cubs. Then-bench coach Bob Geren was behind the strategy, and Jansen executed it perfectly, rising up to the demand of the game.

“Dude is a veteran that understands game situations. It’s really cool to see.” At 37,  Jansen has truly earned his place as a seasoned veteran over the past 15 years. Most of his career was spent with the Dodgers; he debuted in 2010 and notched 350 saves over 12 seasons before moving to the Braves. The Angels signed him this year from the Red Sox as their right-handed reliever, and things have been going great for him.

“I love how he does this all the time. It’s smart in the situation. Why even run the risk of tipping a pitch? He’s just like, yeah yeah, go over there. You’re crowdin’ me. I love this guy so much already even though we rarely see him.” In a game where every pitch counts, Jansen didn’t want to take any risks. He didn’t want Ohtani signaling to Betts where catcher Logan O’Hoppe was setting up, so moving the runner made perfect sense.

“I’ve always loved Kenley Jansen. It’s wild he was on the same team as Joe Kelly. And even wilder that he told Shohei what to do before he beat him—while Shohei was wearing Jansen’s old jersey. God, I love baseball.” Ohtani may be the face of the Dodgers right now, with an unusually huge fan following, but Jansen didn’t hesitate to use a controversial rule against him. That’s the kind of spark baseball game needs and delivers, especially when a former Dodger is facing them in an Angels jersey. And fans clearly loved him for it.

Jansen just reminded everyone why baseball is as much mental as it is physical. Pulling a move like this in a tense game, that too, against one of the biggest stars, may have raised some eyebrows. But he outsmarted the opposition through his calculated move, and luckily, it paid off.

Love it or hate it, one thing’s clear: Kenley Jansen just gave us another reason to love the chaos of baseball.