The Reds announced Tuesday that left-hander Brandon Finnegan has cleared waivers and will be assigned outright to a minor league affiliate (which affiliate appears yet to be determined). He was designated for assignment last week when Cincinnati re-claimed righty Jose Lopez from the Giants.
Now 25 years old, Finnegan was a headlining piece sent from Kansas City to Cincinnati in the 2015 Johnny Cueto blockbuster. He’d been selected in the first round of the 2014 draft and debuted with seven innings of one-run ball that same season, also appearing on the Royals’ 2014 postseason roster. At the time, there were split opinions on whether Finnegan would be a starter or reliever, but to this point in his career he’s struggled in both roles.
Finnegan did give the Reds 172 innings of 3.98 ball out of the rotation in 2016, though with 7.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a .256 average on balls in play, that success looked difficult to sustain. Fielding-independent pitching metrics all pegged Finnegan near 5.00 that season. As it turns out, he didn’t even get a legitimate chance to build on that success in 2017, however, as a shoulder issue cost him the bulk of the season. Finnegan was sidelined by biceps issues for part of the 2018 season as well.
All in all, since that 2016 season, Finnegan has just 33 2/3 innings in the Majors with a 6.15 ERA and a 30-to-28 K/BB ratio. Finnegan’s work in the minors wasn’t any better last season, as he yielded a 7.05 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 40 walks in 67 2/3 innings (primarily as a reliever).
At the time of the trade, few could’ve predicted that Finnegan would pass through waivers unclaimed just over three years later, though injuries and last year’s struggles in the upper minors prompted teams to shy away from the once touted lefty. The Reds will now have the opportunity to try to get Finnegan back on track without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.
Finnegan begin again!
Lol!
Weird the Royals didn’t take a chance.
There were some beef between him and the royals if i remebered right
@daysauce Finnegan was upset with the Royals because of how they handled him by sending him down over and over and never giving him a solid role on their staff. They kept having him switch between bullpen and rotation and he was unhappy with it
…and then he was resistant to work out of the pen for the Reds.
He’s a max effort pitcher who has – at his very beat – been unhittable. His primary problem is he can’t generate that type of velocity with any regularity as a starter.
If he would commit to being a reliever, Finnegan could make a nice living as a reliever. As long as he believes he’s a Major League starter, he’s close to useless.
Farhan? Hello? Haha! Sounds like he could still be useful, or am I dreaming?
Sweet dreams
Seems like a perfect candidate for the Angels. Wait his era is to low
Rofl….too true!
A case against fast-tracking a player, at least for his long-term benefit.
Chaos in Finnegan’s Wake
It is refreshing to see the Reds moving on from players who aren’t going to make it. For years it was so frustrating to see players who could hit 40 home runs, or steal 60+bags, only to see them struggle to get on base. I love my Homer Bailey, and Billy Hamilton bobble heads, but I miss seeing my favorite team win. Kudos to the front office for finally moving some players who were not successful here. In the meantime, I would love it if they could sign Scooter, and Puig to long term deals.