Brandon Finnegan was fantastic for the Reds in his first start of the 2017 season. But, is he worth a waiver wire add moving forward?
The Reds are in the middle of a rebuild, yet they do lack their fair share of intriguing fantasy players. While most of those are on the offensive side of things, Brandon Finnegan should be of intrigue after his brilliant starts against the Phillies this week. But, is he worth an add?
Brandon Finnegan should be a recognizable name to most as he was one of the rare players to be drafted and debut in the same season. In 2014, the Royals made him their first-round pick out of TCU and he would later go on to pitch for the Royals’ bullpen. The following season he would continue to work out of the bullpen, but would find himself dished to the Reds in the Johnny Cueto deal.
That season he would make four starts for the Reds while posting a 4.18 ERA. Coming into the 2016 season, the Reds had plenty spots open in the rotation and Finnegan won a spot and would quietly go on to make 31 starts. He finished with a 3.98 ERA/1.36 WHIP/145 K line over 172 innings.
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Finnegan was shaky for most of the season, but he was able to save his season over the last two months, posting no higher than a 2.66 ERA over his last ten starts while increasing his K/9 by two strikeouts per game.
The key to that success seems to be his increased iimprovement on his changeup. Finnegan’s fastball sits around 94 mph and he already has a nasty slider that plays off of it. But, he lacked a true offspeed pitch.
Over his last two dominant months of 2016, he bumped his changeup usage up to 23% by season’s end. A near 18% increase from the middle of last season. After tinkering with the pitch, it became a major piece of his arsenal and a much-needed pitch that kept batters off balanced rather than sitting dead red.
That served as a tangible piece of evidence for fantasy owners to at least give Finnegan some recognition. But, with the Reds in rebuild mode, playing half his games in Great American Ballpark and a mediocre ERA, he went undrafted in most leagues entering 2017.
The Reds rotation is still in disarray, but Finnegan is easily the team’s best pitcher. He proved just that this week when he shut down a solid Phillies’ lineup over seven innings while striking out nine and only giving up one hit and one walk. He had everything working and showed the first round promise and the 2016 late season version of himself.
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With what now looks like three plus offerings, fantasy owners should be comfortable in adding Finnegan. Heading into week 2 of the fantasy season, he will get two starts coming against the Pirates in Pittsburgh and the Brewers at home. Fantasy should not expect the world from him, the Reds’ bullpen is still terrible and he will run into blowups, but he has made the effective adjustment it seems with his changeup.
Make the move.