Tigers' key bullpen acquisition placed on IL

The Detroit Tigers announced Friday that right-hander Kyle Finnegan has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right adductor strain. Finnegan felt tightness when warming up in the bullpen recently and was held back from entering that game. The team had hoped he’d avoid an IL trip, but Finnegan will now be down for at least the next couple of weeks.

In more positive news, the corresponding move for placing Finnegan on the injured list is the reinstatement of outfielder Parker Meadows from the 10-day IL. He’s been out since late July due to a strained quadriceps but is in Friday’s lineup, hitting ninth and playing center field.

Detroit acquired the 32-year-old Finnegan from the Nationals at the deadline in exchange for pitching prospects Josh Randall and R.J. Sales. He’s been exceptional in his new surroundings, firing 14 1/3 shutout innings with a mammoth 38.8% strikeout rate against a sharp 6.1% walk rate. The Nats have more than doubled the usage rate on Finnegan’s splitter and have him throwing far fewer four-seamers, and he’s seen enormous jumps in both strikeout rate and swinging-strike rate (from 9.2% to 14.3%).

Finnegan has always had plus velocity but has generally posted strikeout rates around the league average despite that fact. He’s still sitting 96.3 mph on his four-seamer, per Statcast, but the Tigers have helped him unlock greater bat-missing ability, which should bode well for his return trip to free agency at season’s end. For the time being, the focus will be on getting him back to the field as quickly as possible. Finnegan has picked up four saves and a hold with Detroit, and since his acquisition, he’s been their No. 2 option in high-leverage situations behind Will Vest.

As for the 25-year-old Meadows, he’s had a season to forget, thanks in no small part to injuries. The 2018 second-rounder had a breakout performance in 2024 when he hit .244/.310/.433 with nine homers, nine steals and strong defense in 82 big league games. He missed the first two-plus months of the current season due to a nerve issue in his upper arm, however, and he strained his quad only seven weeks after returning. In the interim, he hit just .200/.270/.296 with a 29.2% strikeout rate that was up four percentage points over his 2024 level.

The Tigers have been using Wenceel Perez and Javier Baez in center field, but Perez’s glove doesn’t grade out particularly well there and Baez can now mix in at additional positions as he continues to embrace his super-utility role. Meadows will be flanked by Riley Greene and a combination of Perez, Baez, Justyn-Henry Malloy and Kerry Carpenter in the outfield.