“I’m not going to die here” – Ex-Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks battles stage 4 cancer with grit and an unyielding spirit

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks is in the midst of the toughest battle of his life. The ex-Major League hurler has been dealing with stage 4 adenocarcinoma, a kind of stomach cancer. Jenks, known for his larger-than-life personality and fierce competitiveness, spoke about his illness during a 20-minute interview with MLB.com on Saturday.

In the interviews, Jenks said:

“I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not going to die here in Portugal.”

Jenks moved to Sintra, Portugal with his wife and two younger children last year. A father of six, he saw his health significantly decline around the time he moved to the European country.

He initially dealt with blood clots in his legs that eventually led to complications in his lungs. Further tests revealed a tumor in his stomach. Since then, Jenks has been undergoing radiation treatment to get the tumor under control.

But Bobby Jenks isn’t about to give up. The former pitched added:

“They are not going to put any numbers on it. I wouldn’t even want numbers. You hear stories all the time, ‘Oh, they gave me six months, 25 years ago.’ I don’t buy into that. Whatever happens is going to happen regardless.”

“Now it’s time to do what I got to do to get myself better and get myself more time, however you want to look at it," the former pitcher added.

Looking back at Bobby Jenks’s time with Red Sox and White Sox

Jenks was a fifth-round pick in the 2000 draft and was drafted by the team then known as the Anaheim Angels. As the 140th overall pick, Jenks made his way up the minors, debuting in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox. In his first season, Jenks appeared in 32 games for the Chi Sox, posting a 2.75 ERA, saving six games in eight opportunities, while holding three.

In the 2005 postseason, Jenks posted a 2.25 ERA with four saves in eight innings as the White Sox swept the Houston Astros for their first World Series title in over eight decades.

Jenks continued his success with the White Sox, registering back-to-back 40-save seasons in 2006 and 2007. He continued to be an effective closer in 2008, registering 30 saves in 57 games. However, his numbers slowly declined in 2009 and 2010, when he posted 29 and 27 saves, respectively.

Unfortunately, warning signs about his decline emerged as Jenks’s ERA ballooned to 4.44 in 2010. During the offseason that followed, Jenks hit the free agent market, eventually signing with the Boston Red Sox. However, injuries derailed Jenks’s season.

Jenks underwent back surgery in late 2011 and did not pitch again after the Red Sox released him in June 2012. All told, Jenks appeared in 19 games for the Red Sox in 2011, registering a 6.32 ERA and two blown saves. For his career, Jenks had a 16-20 record with a 3.53 ERA and 173 saves. He notched 201 strikeouts in 357.1 innings pitched.