KYLE FINNEGAN, RP

Position: RP B/T: R/R
Age: 34 (9/4/1991)

2025 Traditional Stats: 56 G, 38 GF, 3 HLD, 24 SV, 7 BS, 57 IP, 4-4, 3.47 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 55 SO, 16 BB
2025 Advanced Stats: 120 ERA+, 24% K%, 7.9% BB%, 3.12 xERA, 3.12 FIP, 3.58 xFIP, 1 bWAR, 1.2 fWAR

 

 

RUNDOWN

After five years in the Nationals’ bullpen and four years as their closer, Kyle Finnegan was struggling in 2025. For the first time in his career, he was posting an ERA over 4.00 and a K% under 20%. Then he was traded to the Tigers and everything changed. Across the final two months of the season, he put up a 1.50 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 34.8% K%, and a 6.1% BB%. But was this just the benefit of a small sample size, or did he make meaningful and, more importantly, repeatable changes to lead to this success?

Let’s start with what changed. For starters, he completely revamped how and when he used his pitches. With the Nationals, Finnegan utilized his four-seam fastball 65.7% of the time, his splitter 29.6% of the time, and his slider 4.7% of the time. With the Tigers, he flipped it. He began throwing his splitter 54.8% of the time, his fastball 40.9% of the time and his slider 4.4% of the time. In short, the Tigers told him to throw his best pitch more.

He also changed how he threw his pitches. He began throwing his splitter from a release point two inches lower horizontally. This helped him spin it on a different axis, making it a tighter pitch that he could command better. He also moved his fastball release point two inches less horizontally. He increased his iBV by eight inches to 17.5 inches while maintaining his velocity and spin rate. These changes led to a massive jump in whiff rate across his pitches from 21.7% to 31.2%.

So are these changes sticky? While he probably won’t be a sub-2.00 ERA going forward and will likely give back some of the swing and miss, there is a lot of reason to believe that this version of Kyle Finnegan can be more successful than the version that came before. His splitter is a plus pitch that generates both chase and whiff, and his fastball is more effective when he is throwing it less.

CONTRACT

MLB Trade Rumors projects a two-year deal worth $20 million for Kyle Finnegan. In a loaded reliever free agent market, Kyle Finnegan could be an underrated and undervalued addition to any team’s bullpen.

RECOMMENDATION: TRY TO SIGN

Like some other big reliever names, Finnegan represents a buy-low opportunity as a right-handed setup complement to A.J. Minter. If he can continue or even build on the changes he made with the Tigers, he could be a strong back-end reliever for the Mets. Finnegan would also provide insurance if Edwin Díaz signs elsewhere, and he has shown over the past five years that he is a capable closer.