It is no secret the Nationals have been fielding trade offers for some of their top players, both those on expiring deals and those with some team control remaining. They have already shipped out Hunter Harvey, Jesse Winker and Lane Thomas to the Royals, Mets and Guardians respectively and more players could be on their way out soon.
One of the biggest names available both that the Nationals had to offer and amongst available bullpen arms is closer Kyle Finnegan, who was an All Star this season and entered last night's game with a strong 2.47 ERA and 28 saves, second in the National League. Prior to last night, Finnegan had only pitched once in the past week, which is very atypical for both the Nationals and manager Davey Martinez. If anything, Martinez has an issue with pitching his top bullpen arms too often, never not enough. Finnegan's sudden drop in usage was clearly related to his name being out there on the trade market, and rightfully so. The Nationals wanted to prevent any potential drop in value, whether it be due to injury or poor performance. Nevertheless, Davey Martinez decided to use his closer last night in what was a non-save situation and it could not have gone worse.
Entering a game in the 9th inning with a 4 run lead, it was supposedly to be an easy and stress-free outing for Finnegan as he looked to have a tune-up in what could potentially be his final game with the franchise. What Finnegan and the Nationals found was anything but easy and stress-free.
Finnegan gave up hard hit after hard hit, facing six batters in total and only recording one out, which was a sharply hit line-out to Right Field. Alek Thomas greeted Finnegan with a lead off triple before Geraldo Perdomo singled him home in the next at bat. Ketel Marte then homered for two runs, which quickly turned a four run cushion into a one run nail-biter. Finnegan managed to get the next out, giving the Nats some hope, but Lourdes Guirrel Jr. singled in the next at bat, bringing the winning run to the plate in the form of Diamondbacks superstar Corbin Carroll. Finnegan would not see a batter after Carroll, and here is why:
CORBIN CARROLL PINCH-HIT WALKOFF HOME RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/923dqFuPzY
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 30, 2024
Whether it was an intentional decision to showcase Finnegan one final time before the deadline to boost his value a bit in trade talks or just a potential "goodbye" to the organization, or even just more bullpen mismanagement, the decision to use Finnegan last night blew up in spectacular fashion. Ultimately the Nationals lost the game 9 to 8 after having a 6 run lead early. While Finnegan entered the game with a 2.47 ERA, he departed with a 3.48 ERA and another blown save.
Ultimately last night's performance shouldn't drastically impact Finnegan's value as this is pretty much who he has always been: a high leverage reliever who is prone to giving up hard contact. His expected ERA was always much higher than his actual ERA, and last night's performance shrunk the gap between the two. However, potential suitors for Finnegan have also always known this and that is likely what has held up talks to this point. Teams are likely wary of the underlying metrics while the Nationals, as they should, value Finnegan as who he has been this season.
That being said, the risk always outweighed the reward when it came to pitching Finnegan last night and his performance certainly does not help any effort to maximize the return if you were to trade him. A decision should have been levied not to pitch Finnegan until after the trade deadline, which would have just been 24 hours longer. With a four run lead, the Nationals should have just let another reliever finish the game, particularly with the benefit of hindsight.
Hopefully the Nationals are still able to trade Finnegan and get a quality return for their All Star closer, but they need to operate more carefully going forward so they don't make their efforts more difficult than they need to be.