Cubs Free-Agent Targets: Kyle Finnegan, Splitter Extraordinaire

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Kyle Finnegan is a name that has been floated and connected with the Chicago Cubs dating back to last offseason, when he was non-tendered by the Washington Nationals. As the trade deadline approached in the summer of 2025, his name was once again floated by Patrick Mooney and Sahdev Shama of The Athletic as a name the team was interested in. Instead of ending up on the North Side of Chicago, the Nationals instead dealt him to the Detroit Tigers. Now, as the Cubs look to rebuild their bullpen this offseason, the reliever could once again fit into the team's plans.

Finnegan, 34, is a bit of a late bloomer, with his first full Major League Baseball season coming when he was already 29 years old. Between 2021 and 2025, the right-hander has been a solid bullpen arm, providing 2.2 fWAR over 322 innings pitched. If there is a bit of a knock on the former Nationals closer, it is that he's always been a bit home-run prone, giving up at least nine per year, and maxing out in 2023 with 11 round-trippers surrendered. 

For the Cubs, this may be less of an issue than for other teams, as Wrigley Field has done a great job suppressing offense all on it's own. Between 2023 and 2025, Wrigley Field has ranked 25th in offensive run value according to Baseball Savant's park factors, as well as below league average for home runs surrendered. There will still be days where the wind is howling, but it seems that the winds have literally shifted in on this front. 

However, the Detroit Tigers may have done the heavy lifting for the other 29 MLB organizations already by helping Finnegan change his pitch mix. Finnegan has plenty of velocity sitting between 96 and 97mph and a plus fastball shape according to FanGraphs' Stuff+ pitch modeling, but the pitch has been hit fairly well over the last few years, finishing with wOBA's against of .299, .339, and .349 over the last three seasons, respectively. 

Contrast, then, the reliever's other main offering, his split-finger, a pitch that has had, over the same span, wOBA's against of .254, .271, and .184, respectively. It grades out incredibly well by Stuff+ as well, and gets tons of whiffs—nearly 35% of the time in two of those three seasons. It's a great pitch, which makes it all-the-more-baffling that while with Washington, he threw the fastball nearly 70% of the time. Finnegan was able to remain a good pitcher, but there was meat on the bone that was being tossed in the trash can.

This all changed last summer after being acquired by the Detroit Tigers who, over the course of two months, flipped his pitch usage. By the end of the season, Finnegan was throwing his split-finger fastball nearly 60% of the time, up from his 30% with Washington. This transformed the right-handed hurler from a good reliever to a near-elite one. Look at the difference between his time in Washington and Detroit in 2025:

Finnegan saw improvement across the board (outside of hard-hit percentage). It shouldn't be shocking that featuring his best pitch significantly more, and one designed to increase ground balls and decrease fly balls. would be all that was needed to generate a major jump in the reliever's profile, and yet, Washington couldn't figure this one out. None of this is to say I would expect him to remain a sub-2.00 ERA pitcher moving forward, but that with a heavy dose of split fingers, he's likely going to be a significantly better option that he had been with the Nationals. 

The best thing about him, however, is that he won't break the bank. The right-hander did not feature in the Top 50 Diamond Centric Free Agent Rankings, and with his age-34 season upcoming, likely won't require a multi-year commitment to secure his services for the 2026 campaign. Knowing how the Cubs enjoy building their bullpen and their reluctance to fly above the luxury tax limits, he would fit nicely into their structure and would likely provide a strong back-end piece with Daniel Palencia and Phil Maton already under contract. He may not be as exciting as someone like Devin Williams or Robert Suarez at first, but could emerge as the steal of the offseason if he can keep up his momentum from Detroit.

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What do you think of Kyle Finnegan? Would you approve of the Cubs adding him to their 2026 bullpen? Sound off in the comment section below!

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[Irrelevant Dude]

I honestly didn't read all that, but I standby my opinion that Kyle Finnegan sucks.

[Jason Ross]

18 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I honestly didn't read all that, but I standby my opinion that Kyle Finnegan sucks.

He is actually really good. I'd implore you to read all that, it would likely change your mind 

His issue isn't that he isn't good. It's that the Nationals are stupid. 

[Bertz]

Finnegan is kind of the anti Helsley.  Pretty mid career and an incredible cup of coffee with the Tigers.

I'm highly skeptical that >50% splitters is a thing you can successfully do permanently.  So I think my interest would hinge on whether he takes 1 year to sign or 2.  MLBTR has him at 2 but I suspect he's borderline.

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

Finnegan is kind of the anti Helsley.  Pretty mid career and an incredible cup of coffee with the Tigers.

I'm highly skeptical that >50% splitters is a thing you can successfully do permanently.  So I think my interest would hinge on whether he takes 1 year to sign or 2.  MLBTR has him at 2 but I suspect he's borderline.

Yeah, I'd sit with him in the one year mold. The split finger thing probably works for a year and you can likely re-mix more fastball heavy here or there to crate confusion and surprise. The Cubs have had success on primary fastball-splutter types like Shota (rotation) and Leiter Jr (bullpen) so I think they could probably find a good place for him. 

I wouldn't go insane if they didn't sign him, but he feels like a good one year reliever.