What better way to put a bow on a long week of cannonballs, missed connections with your server, and a little actual work than Finnegan, begin again?
The final part of the final segment of the final show of this week was a little Grant & Danny’s Tony’s Mailbag, but the part before that was the last interview of the week from G&D’s trip to Nats Spring Training – and fittingly it was Kyle Finnegan, who will be the Nationals’ closer in 2024.
“It’s crazy to think that this is my fifth spring training with the Nationals already,” Finnegan told the guys. “It's been a fun ride and we're excited to get it going.”
Finnegan threw 69 1/3 innings last year and had 28 saves, and a lot of that success came from the evolution of his splitter, which Danny called ‘turbo nasty.’
“Just throwing it more, you kind of figure different things out with it and what makes it click, and it just clicked for most of the season last year. I just got to that point where I just didn't have to think about much, I just had to throw it,” Finnegan said. “Everything that I've always liked to throw is like, set the grip and just rip it, and when you're in that place, it's a really good place to be. I was able to execute it at the bottom of the zone, I think that was a big thing; you have to get the splitter down and I was able to execute that more times than not, and it led to a bunch of success.”
So where does he go from here?
“I think I've left some meat on the bone these last couple of years. I've had some tough Septembers for whatever reason; like, I feel really good at the end of the year, but it’s almost coincidental that I pitch really well throughout the heat of the summer,” Finnegan said. “I don't know what it is, but I definitely want to finish out the season strong. I'm happy with the stats I've been able to put up, but I think there's some more to be desired for me.”
And as far as those stats go, there are a couple key ones he’ll look at come October and hope to really be happy with.
“For me, it’s getting ahead of hitters, how many guys am I getting ahead of, because the statistical advantage when you're ahead versus behind is just astronomical,” Finnegan said. “And WHIP is a big one I look at, because less base runners, less opportunities, and saves, because if you get to save, we win the game.”
He’ll have some help with that from new pitching strategist Sean Doolittle, himself a former successful Nats reliever who can now give Finnegan stats like this one Grant whipped out: his fastball averaged 97.3 MPH last year, 93rd percentile in MLB and almost 2.5 MPH above where it was when he debuted.
“We’re just aging like a fine wine!” Finnegan joked. “No, I think it's just that every year that goes by, you learn something new about your body and how you move. And, the game has swung so far into the weight room and analytics, and you just pick up little pieces and you tailor that into your program. All of our bodies move differently, so you got to figure out what works for you, and I feel like I've been able to find a really consistent program. I feel really good with where my body's at, and when you do that, you slowly start to see it climb. It's really exciting and it's a testament to how much work you put in, so I’m just going to keep doing what I've been doing.”
Oh, and about Doolittle?
“I've already felt his impact personally. He's that perfect bridge between player and coach, fresh out of the game but so intellectual when it comes to analytics and how the body works, and how you execute pitches,” Finnegan said. “I actually developed a new pitch over the off-season with his help and it's been really good this spring, so excited to use that. He’s been a really good shoulder to lean on for advice.”
Even if, in his first season with the Nats, Finnegan was pitching WITH Doolittle, not for him.
“In the bullpen, we're always talking about the game and just throwing stuff off each other, and he was a guy we were like, dude, when you're done, like you would be such a good coach,” Finnegan said. “Sure enough here he is, and I'm reaping the benefits of his help.”
Well, when they were talking about the game, that is.
“The first five innings it’s like 10 percent about baseball, and then as we work our way through the game, like sixth or seventh inning where we're playing the matchups a little bit, it’s a lot more,” Finnegan said of bullpen convos. “We enjoy watching the game and following the starters, but we're loose the first couple innings, and slowly as it gets closer to that phone ringing, guys start moving around and getting locked in and going over the hitters that may be coming up, or talk a lot of mechanics. There's always guys that are working on stuff so we bounce things off each other, but definitely as the innings go by, we get more and more locked in.”