Kyle Finnegan will likely begin the season as the Nationals closer, but should he?
With Kyle Finnegan back in the fold, he will likely be the Nationals closer. However, I am not convinced that he is the best arm in the Nats bullpen. Jose A Ferrer intrigues me and should get a shot to close if Finnegan struggles like he did in the second half.
Jose A Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan had very different second halves. Finnegan, who was an all-star faced some big time struggles after the midsummer classic. In his 24 appearances after the break, Finnegan posted a 5.79 ERA, and opponents hit .337 against him.
Meanwhile, Ferrer was ascending in the second half. After missing the first half with an injury, Ferrer was electric down the stretch. His velocity was up by two ticks and he was throwing more strikes. That is an ideal combination. Ferrer was also throwing a heavy sinker that generated a lot of ground balls.
These trends have continued into Spring Training. Ferrer has not allowed a run in his seven appearances, while Finnegan has given up three earned runs and five total runs in 1.2 innings. In my viewing of Finnegan today, his fastball was sitting around 95 MPH rather than his normal 97 MPH range. He topped out at 98, so I am not too concerned but it is something to watch as Finnegan gets a little older.
Finnegan has 66 saves over the last two seasons, so he deserves first dibs at the closer role. However, this is a situation I will be monitoring. Between Finnegan’s second half struggles and subpar advanced metrics, there are some warning signs. There is a reason he had to wait so long to get signed. On the other hand, Ferrer is on the rise and only getting better at just 25 years old.
I will be interested to see how long Finnegan’s leash is if he struggles early. He got into camp late, and as we saw last year with Jordan Montgomery of the Diamondbacks, that can hurt pitchers. Finnegan has also been hit hard this spring, including today.
I think Jose A Ferrer has a big future ahead of him. You don’t see 98 MPH left handed power sinkers combined with solid control every day. Ferrer doesn’t strike out a ton of guys, but he gets a lot of ground balls with his sinker. I have said before that he reminds me a bit of Zack Britton as a lefty with a power sinker. Ferrer is somebody I am watching closely, and I think he is already the Nationals best reliever.