Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris on bullpen market at trade deadline
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris talks July 31, 2025, about his evaluation of the bullpen market at the trade deadline.
The leader of the Detroit Tigers‘ bullpen suffered an injury.
Right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan experienced right groin tightness while warming up in the bullpen Wednesday, Sept. 3, in the finale of the three-game series against the New York Mets at Comerica Park.
After the injury, Finnegan did not pitch in Wednesday’s game. He was unavailable postgame to discuss the situation with reporters due to medical testing.
The severity of the injury is unclear.
“No, just that he wasn’t available,” manager A.J. Hinch said after Wednesday’s 6-2 win, when asked if he had an update on Finnegan’s status.
Kyle Finnegan appears to have injured himself while warming up in the bullpen
He hasn’t allowed a single run in 12 appearances with the Tigers since they traded for him at the deadline pic.twitter.com/9nfFAEUvCp
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 3, 2025
The Tigers acquired Finnegan from the Washington Nationals at the July 31 trade deadline. Since joining the Tigers, he has completed 14â…“ scoreless innings with three walks and 19 strikeouts in 12 games, notching four saves.
Finnegan was supposed to make his 13th appearance in Wednesday’s game, but the injury forced the Tigers to call on right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle for a second inning of work.
Kahnle delivered 1â…“ scoreless innings.
“Obviously, we needed a lot of guys to get some outs,” Hinch said. “The way we mapped it out, the only hiccup was Finnegan warming up and having that tightness, so we quickly had to audible. We got Tommy back out there.”
Finnegan’s 14â…“ innings in August were the most in any month of his six-year MLB career.
Not only has Finnegan been used more than ever before in his career, but he has also been tasked with pitching beyond one inning more than ever before in 2025.
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With the Nationals, Finnegan recorded more than three outs just four times in 40 games. With the Tigers, he has already done it four times in 12 games.
Before joining the Tigers, Finnegan — who throws fastballs, splitters and sliders — registered a 4.38 ERA with 14 walks and 32 strikeouts across 39 innings in 40 games, racking up 20 saves.
In total, he has a 3.21 ERA in the 2025 season.
In Wednesday’s game, the Tigers turned to right-handed relievers Will Vest and Rafael Montero for the final seven outs.
“We had all hands on deck,” Hinch said.
Montero needs to cut down on the walks, but he has been a surprise since the Tigers acquired him from the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline — posting a 2.77 ERA with nine walks and 11 strikeouts over 13 innings in 10 games. Meanwhile, Kahnle has completed six scoreless innings in a row after allowing 22 runs in a stretch of 13⅓ innings. Before then, he had a 1.35 ERA in his first 33⅓ innings.
The Tigers need Finnegan to be healthy, but the emergence of Montero and the reemergence of Kahnle will go a long way in helping the Finnegan-Vest tandem down the stretch.
“It just shows how prepared everybody is down there,” said Kerry Carpenter, who hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning. “When people are called upon to do jobs that they’re not necessarily used to doing, we’re prepared. Everybody down there has the stuff to get these guys out. It was really special.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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