Detroit – He did it again.
Kyle Finnegan started his outing with a walk Friday night. He entered the game in the eighth inning protecting a two-run lead and began the at-bat with Connor Norby with a pitch-clock violation and three straight balls well out of the zone.
He’s walked at least one hitter in five of his six outings, which, even to him, has to be a little mind-blowing.
“It’s always come in bunches for me,” he said. “I’ll do what I’m doing now and then I will go a month without walking a guy.”
Understand, the walks are the only blemish on Finnegan’s performance so far this season. He’s allowed just one hit and no runs. But seven walks in 5.1 innings? Uncharacteristic, to say the least.
“I’ve been walking guys but I feel like the ball is doing what I want it to do,” he said. “It’s maybe starting (pitches) in a better place or maybe not being afraid of contact early in the count and forcing strike one and strike two and not trying to get caught up in swing-and-miss.”
That’s certainly part of it. Despite putting together three straight stellar seasons and establishing himself as a reliable back-end reliever, Finnegan’s low whiff (24.6%) and strikeout (15.8%) rates were part of the discussion during free agent negotiations last winter before he signed back with the Tigers for two years and $19 million.
His increased splitter usage helped increase both rates with the Tigers last season.
But he’s not a nibbler by nature. He’s a proven strike-thrower. His strike percentage last season was nearly 68 percent. He averaged just two walks per nine innings. And he was in a good groove coming out of spring training, as well.
But with the Tigers falling behind in a lot of games early, his usage hasn’t been as consistent as it will be. And the weather, especially earlier this week in Minneapolis, hasn’t been conducive to pinpoint control.
“It’s part of it,” he said. “It’s something everyone in here has dealt with before. I’m not reading into it too much as far as how my outings have gone. I’ve been walking a lot of guys, but, I had two in Arizona and I thought I was throwing the ball really well. I was just missing (by a little).
“I don’t feel lost out there or out of sync. It’s just finding ways to execute which I think will come.”
The mission is to collect outs without giving up runs. And Finnegan continues to do that. He responded to the leadoff walk Friday by throwing five of the next six pitches for strikes and ending the inning in two batters (lineout double-play and ground out).
The walks, right now, are just a curious, and he believes temporary, anomaly.
Marlins at Tigers
First pitch: 1:40 p.m. Sunday, Comerica Park, Detroit
TV/Radio: Detroit Sports Net/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
RHP Sandy Alcantara (2-0, .074), Marlins: He’s back in Cy Young form, already posting a Maddux (complete game shutout under 100 pitches). He’s allowed just two earned runs in 24.1 innings over his three starts (Rockies, White Sox and Reds), with an MLB-low 0.575 WHIP. He’s been leaning heavily on his four-seamer (97 mph) and changeup (90 mph), with mixed dosages of sinkers, sliders and cutters. He’s also added a sweeper this season that he throws mostly to right-handed hitters.
LHP Tarik Skubal (1-2, 2.55), Tigers: He got nicked for eight hits and four runs in a short 4.2 innings at Target Field earlier in the week. When we say nicked, it was like paper cuts. The 15 balls put in play against him had an average exit velocity of 83 mph. He punched out seven and got 19 whiffs on 51 swings. The two run-scoring hits came on two-strike pitches, both of which were out of the strike zone. Fluky. Still, the Tigers have lost his last two starts.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: For Tigers’ Kyle Finnegan, early walks are annoying, not alarming
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
