Column: Jayhawks recall Royals reliever Finnegan

Just six months ago, left-hander Brandon Finnegan stared in at the catcher’s signs from atop the mound at Hoglund Ballpark, a Jayhawk in the batter’s box.

TCU won the game, 5-2, and Finnegan got the decision, but the Jayhawks did bat .400 against him during his five innings.

Next up for Finnegan is the San Francisco Giants on the World Series stage in his role as Royals’ middle reliever.

“It’s pretty special, doing it as fast as he’s done it,” said KU second baseman Colby Wright, who went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a sacrifice against Finnegan on April 11. “I mean, that’s unheard of. He’s the first guy ever to go to the College World Series and the World Series in the same year. He’s pitched pretty much every game in a big situation, and to do it like he’s a 38-year-old vet is pretty amazing.”

Wright remembers one pitch in particular from Finnegan, known for a slider described at various times as wicked, nasty, filthy, dirty, the usual assortment of adjectives ballplayers use.

“One time he made me look pretty stupid,” Wright said. “He threw me a slider, and my knee buckled. He said he didn’t have his good stuff that day, and he was still the best pitcher I’ve ever seen.”

Dakota Smith, the designated hitter that night, struck out swinging twice and bounced into a short-to-second-to-first double play.

“Just the change he made from two years ago to last year was impressive,” Smith said. “Last year he made me look pretty bad. The year before, he had a good breaking ball, but he couldn’t throw it for a strike, and we were able to capitalize on it. Then coming back after that year, he had command of both sides of the plate and his offspeed stuff.”

Finnegan’s 134 strikeouts led the Big 12 by 39 K’s. The Royals took him in the first round, with the 17th pick. He made five Class-A starts, eight Double-A relief appearances, and in seven regular-season bullpen outings for the Royals he walked one, struck out 10 and allowed one run in seven innings.

Finnegan has appeared in five postseason games, the most memorable the wild-card game vs. the A’s in which strikeouts accounted for three of his seven outs.