After trade, Detroit Tigers' Kyle Finnegan flips pitch mix: more splitters, fewer fastballs

After the trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers immediately tweaked right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan's pitch usage to unlock more swings and misses.

CHICAGO — The Detroit Tigers acquired right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan from the Washington Nationals at the July 31 trade deadline. After trading for him, the Tigers immediately tweaked Finnegan's pitch usage to unlock more swings and misses.

Since then, the ex-Nationals closer has thrown 4⅓ scoreless innings with six strikeouts in four games, converting all three save opportunities.

The secret?

More splitters, fewer fastballs.

"It's adapt or die in this game," said Finnegan, a free agent after this season. "I'm always constantly looking for ways to get better. I guess they identified some things. Maybe that's why they brought me over here. I'm embracing it, and I'm trusting it. There are a lot of really good minds over here."

Detroit Tigers pitcher Kyle Finnegan (64) delivers a pitch against Minnesota Twins during the ninth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit in Monday, August 4, 2025.

Finnegan, who turns 34 in early September, owns a 3.95 ERA with 14 walks and 38 strikeouts across 43⅓ innings in 44 games for the Nationals (40 games) and Tigers (four games).

For the Nationals, he had 4.38 ERA and a 21.7% whiff rate, below the MLB average of 26.2% for relievers. For the Tigers (entering Tuesday's game in Chicago), he has yet to allow a run and carries a 23.3% whiff rate — an improvement, but still shy of the MLB average.

Pitch mix is the biggest difference between Finnegan in Washington and Detroit.

"We do the prep work before the game, understanding what pitches might play better," Finnegan said. "It's been splitter-heavy to a lot of these guys. They've been calling it, and I agree with it, so I throw it. The results have been there."

With the Nationals, Finnegan threw 65.7% four-seam fastballs, 29.6% splitters and 4.7% sliders. With the Tigers, he's at 48.1% four-seam fastballs, 42.3% splitters and 9.6% sliders.

Before joining the Tigers, Finnegan always believed the fastball was his best pitch.

"The four-seamer was one of my better pitches, so I wanted to throw my better pitch more often," Finnegan said, explaining his pitch mix with the Nationals. "I kept falling back to the bread and butter — the fastball."

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The Tigers, though, believe the splitter is his best pitch.

And the Tigers want Finnegan to throw his best weapon in the biggest moments.

"It's really good," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Finnegan's splitter. "We're getting to know him, and he's getting to know us, and we're trying to bring out the best version of him because he only pitches when the game is on the line."

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Catcher Dillon Dingler explained why Finnegan is throwing more splitters and fewer fastballs.

"We're going to lean on his best pitch," Dingler said. "He's still got a really good fastball. He can go at the bottom with it and at the top — generate whiffs at the top and steal strikes at the bottom. It's going to be hard to be on the heater because it's 97 (mph) and then also cover a good downward-movement splitter."

The new approach appears to be working.

More splitters have led to more swinging strikes, while fewer fastballs have produced more called strikes. His strikeout rate has jumped from 19.6% with the Nationals to 42.9% with the Tigers, albeit in a small sample size.

"Lean on their best stuff," Dingler said. "With Finney, we're going to go splitter, we're going to go heater, and we're going to go occasional sliders to righties."

Finnegan ranks third with 89 saves from 2023-25, but the sixth-year reliever has relied on ground-ball contact for most of his outs, a byproduct of his below-average whiff rate.

The Tigers — led by president of baseball operations Scott Harris — believe Finnegan can generate more strikeouts by adjusting his three-pitch mix, thus maximizing his effectiveness in high-leverage situations, especially save situations in the ninth inning.

On July 31, Harris hinted at this plan after acquiring Finnegan from the Nationals.

"I think there's going to be some more swing and miss in there," Harris said. "I think there are some things that he can do a little bit differently that will help him miss a few more bats, both with the four-seamer and the splitter."

So far, the results have been promising.

"He wants to use some good stuff," Hinch said. "He's got multiple pitches to use. He shouldn't fall into the trap of having to do it any one way."

Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Kyle Finnegan throws more splitters, fewer fastballs

Category: Baseball