The Nationals are still waiting to see if their All-Star closer is available for this afternoon’s series finale against the Giants. If not, they have no problem giving him some more rest before tomorrow’s off-day and the upcoming six-game West Coast road trip.
Kyle Finnegan has been dealing with arm fatigue after pitching two innings in the Nats’ two wins over the Braves earlier this week. The right-hander recorded his 15th save, good for third in the major leagues, with a perfect ninth inning on Tuesday and then was charged with his third blown save after giving up two hits and an unearned run in the ninth of Thursday’s extra-inning victory.
"Just a little arm fatigue after pitching twice against Atlanta,” Finnegan told reporters yesterday after not appearing in the 3-0 win over the Giants. “I just haven't quite bounced back yet. But I feel fine. It's just an abundance of caution, take an extra day."
Neither the closer nor the team feel too concerned about it. Ideally, he would be available to pitch this afternoon. But even if he’s not, the Nats are confident in their other closing candidates like Jorge López, who recorded his first save of the season Saturday.
“Just like fatigue,” Finnegan said. “Some outings you're more sore than others, really no reason why. Just a little more fatigued. But like I said, it's really not something I'm concerned with at all."
“Obviously, we used López yesterday. He did well. He did really well,” manager Davey Martinez said ahead of Sunday’s game. “This is the reason why he was so interesting to us, because he's closed games before. He pitched in the back end of the bullpen. I know he can do it. He threw the ball really, really well yesterday. So we'll see how the game goes and, the biggest thing I always say, our starter has to kind of go deep. Then we'll figure it out from there.”
The Nationals had their starters go deep in each of the last two games, with MacKenzie Gore pitching into the seventh Friday and Jake Irvin completing eight frames Saturday. That allowed Martinez to only use a total of four relievers over the past two days. But he’ll still wait and see if his regular closer is available today, if he’s needed at all.
“He's gonna go throw. He'll play catch and we'll see how he's feeling,” Martinez said of Finnegan. “So hopefully he's OK. And if not, we got viable options thanks to Irvin.
“It could be López. It could be (Jose A.) Ferrer, depending on matchups. We'll see how it plays out.”
Finnegan has never landed on the injured list over the course of his five-plus big league seasons. That has allowed him to realize when he feels something abnormal and tell the coaching and training staff.
“Knock on wood, I've felt good throughout my career,” he said. “It's not something I'm concerned about. We had an opportunity to take an extra day off. I just wanted to wait until I fully bounce back.
“I think it's important to listen to your body and knock things out before they become an issue. And I think that's what taking an extra day. We should be ready to go."