Kenley Jansen hospitalized with irregular heartbeat

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Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat Tuesday night after his seven-pitch save against the Rockies.

Doctors had to use cardio conversion, shocking the heart back into rhythm Wednesday morning after Jansen failed to respond to medication, Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said.

Jansen, 23, was scheduled to remain at White Memorial Medical Center for observation again Wednesday night and is expected to be released Thursday.

Conte said Jansen complained after the game that he felt his heart fluttering. Team physician Mary Gendry performed an EKG on Jansen at the stadium and he was then driven to the hospital.

‘Any time you have an irregular heartbeat, we treat it pretty seriously,’ Conte said.

‘We did an EKG that was of some concern. He was in no distress, he did not have any pain or shortness of breath or anything like that.’

Conte said reliever Joe Beimel had a similar episode when he was with the Dodgers and was pitching again two days later.

‘We sure don’t think it’s career-threatening,’’ Conte said.

Conte said additional cardio tests will be run at the hospital in an attempt to determine the cause of the irregular beat, though it often goes undiscovered.

‘The question I can’t answer yet, and probably will be able to in the next 24 hours, is what we do next,’’ Conte said. ‘He is absolutely normal now.’

Conte said Jansen -- who hasn’t been scored upon in his last 16 innings -- was already eager to return to the team.

‘He’s calling us and yelling and screaming he wants out,’ he said. RELATED:

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen delivers a pitch during a game against the Colorado Rockies on Monday. Credit: Kirby Lee / U.S. Presswire