Bobby Jenks’ Death Cause: Who Was Bobby Jenks. Bobby Jenks’ death cause was revealed to be a Stage 4 adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer. He passed away on July 4, 2025.

Bobby Jenks’ Death Cause

Bobby Jenks, an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, died on July 4 at age 44. The cause of death was revealed to be Stage 4 adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer, according to sources at MLB.

Jenks had been undergoing treatment in Portugal when he died. He was diagnosed with the disease in February 2025, shortly after losing his home in the Palisades wildfires.

He is survived by his wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, their two children, Zeno and Kate, and his four children, Cuma, Nolan, Rylan, and Jackson, whom he had with his ex-wife, Adele Romkee before they got divorced.

Who Was Bobby Jenks

Robert Scott Jenks, 44, was born on March 14, 1981.

From 2005 to 2011, he was a member of the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox in Major League Baseball (MLB). Jenks, a relief pitcher who spent the majority of his career as a closer, is second among White Sox pitchers in terms of career saves. Jenks was named to the All-Star team twice.

In 2005, Jenks made his major league debut and played a key role in the White Sox’s World Series victory, recording the game-winning out in Game 4. He set a new big league record in 2007 for the most consecutive batters retired (41), which remained in effect until 2009. On August 27, 2005, at Safeco Field, he recorded his fastest pitch at 102 miles per hour (164 kilometers per hour), according to the Baseball Almanac.

In addition, he threw a strong, sharp-breaking curveball, a slider, and a changeup. After retiring, Jenks worked in the Pioneer League as a manager and pitching coach.

Soon after his back injury, Jenks developed a painkiller addiction and was using “probably up to 60+ pills a day” at one point.

And on some days, that was probably on the low side. After attempting to detox for a week before spring training in 2012, he resumed buying through a “pill mill” the day after.

In 2019, Jenks wrote for The Players’ Tribune about his experiences with addiction. He described how, while alone at his Fort Myers, Florida, apartment for spring training, he mixed Ambien and Percocet, laying out the food from his refrigerator on the floor before stabbing his television with a knife.

He was caught and charged twice for driving while under the influence of opioids between March and July 2012. In May, he went to inpatient rehab after his family tried an intervention.

He ultimately acknowledged to himself and others that he was an alcoholic and an addict; following his 2013 operation, he also experienced despair and divorce. He had been sober for seven years and three months as of 2019, and he was fighting to outlaw concurrent surgeries like the one that nearly put an end to his career.

After Jenks relocated to Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire of 2025 destroyed his house. In order to be closer to his second wife’s family, Jenks also traveled to Portugal during the baseball offseason.