Finnegan looks back on journey from first to 100th save

Kyle Finnegan remembers career save No. 1. How could he forget?

On July 29, 2021, the Nationals played a seven-inning doubleheader against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, necessitated by a COVID outbreak among the team’s coaching staff the previous day. The trade deadline was 24 hours away, and Mike Rizzo was working nonstop making six deals involving eight players.

Finnegan was directly impacted by this. Before that day’s game, Rizzo traded Brad Hand to the Blue Jays for Riley Adams. Later that day, he dealt Daniel Hudson to the Padres for Mason Thompson and Jordy Barley. Which is why Finnegan found himself pitching the final inning of a 3-1 victory, capped by strikeouts of Alec Bohm and Odúbel Herrera to secure the first save of his career.

“I always joke that I went to bed the sixth-inning guy and woke up the closer that day,” he said this week. “It was a big change.”

Finnegan didn’t become the Nationals’ full-time closer right away. He and Tanner Rainey alternated through the rest of 2021 and throughout 2022 before he finally took over in 2023.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but when Finnegan locked down the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians – notice the symmetry there? – he reached a milestone few probably saw coming back then: 100 career saves.

“One hundred saves is awesome for him, for this club,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m really proud of him. I’ve been with him now for five years, and everything I’ve asked him to do, he’s done. And done really well. He’s turning out to be a leader out there.”

In a role where volatility is the norm, Finnegan has been a model of consistency. Only five major league closers have recorded more saves since 2021: Emmanuel Clase, Josh Hader, Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias and Jordan Romano.

And at this point, only one reliever in Nationals history has saved more games: Chad Cordero, who has long held the club record of 113 but at this rate is likely to hand over the title to Finnegan sometime this summer.

The significance of that isn’t lost on Finnegan, who spent six seasons in the Athletics farm system without ever getting called up before the Nats offered him a major league contract in 2020.

“It just makes you look back and reminisce on your journey to this point,” he said. “Just really thankful for all the teammates I’ve played with along the way, and the coaches. I think 100 saves to me means that was 100 wins for the Washington Nationals. That’s what means the most. It’s a team effort to get to those situations. I’m just getting the last three outs.”

Finnegan’s 12 saves to date this season perhaps mean a little more than any of his previous ones. Considering the ragged state of the rest of the Nats bullpen, the 33-year-old has desperately been needed to serve as the only true steady arm in the entire unit.

He pitched the top of the ninth in a scoreless game on Opening Day against the Phillies, and all 14 of his appearances since have come in save situations. He’s recorded the final out for 71 percent of his team’s wins so far this year. (That would equate to 58 saves on an 81-win team, 64 saves on a 90-win team.)

More than anything, Finnegan wants to be closing out games of real consequence. He joined the team shortly after it won the World Series. He has never been involved in a pennant race. And because he’s set to become a free agent this winter, time may be running out for him to get the chance to do it here in D.C.

“One was special. A hundred is special,” he said. “I hope to have a few more.”