Sunday Notes: Cole Henry Could Be Washington’s Next Tyler Clippard

Cole Henry could close out games for the Nationals next season. Paul Toboni was noncommittal when I brought up that possibility during the Winter Meetings, yet there are no currently clear favorites to fill the role — not since Washington’s new president of baseball operations swapped southpaw Jose Ferrer to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Harry Ford and Isaac Lyon in early December. And while the 26-year-old right-hander admittedly lacks ninth-inning experience — just two professional saves — he has attributes suggestive of late-inning effectiveness.

Henry’s 2025 numbers serve as an argument both for and against his assuming the closer responsibilities that Ferrer had inherited when Kyle Finnegan was dealt to Detroit at July’s trade deadline. Over 57 relief outings comprising 52-and-two-thirds innings, he held opposing batters to a .213 xBA while logging a better-than-league-average 25.6% whiff rate. Less encouraging were the 5.34 FIP that accompanied his 4.27 ERA, and the 13.3% walk rate that accompanied his 21.6% strikeout rate. Also notable was his .259 BABIP, but is that a red flag, or is it actually a sign that the Nationals might have stumbled upon their next Tyler Clippard?

Pitching for Washington from 2008-2014, Clippard crafted a 2.68 ERA, a notably higher 3.46 FIP, an 15.8% infield-fly rate, and a .233 BABIP (he also had 34 saves and 150 holds during that seven-year span). Henry’s infield-fly rate this past season was 21.4%, the third-highest mark in MLB among pitchers to throw at least 50 innings. Only Jordan Leasure (26.0%) and Alex Vesia (22.1%) induced a higher percentage of pop-ups.

Henry’s arm slot differs from Clippard’s, but his delivery nonetheless plays a role in his ability to miss barrels. Moreover, his slot has dropped since he was drafted 55th overall in 2020 out of LSU. Eric Longenhagen pointed that out earlier this summer:

“Henry was a Top 100 prospect at this site when he was showing three plus pitches as a starter and on the doorstep of the big leagues in 2022. A litany of injuries, including surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, relegated him to the bullpen and delayed his graduation until 2025… Henry’s release point and style have changed. He has lowered his arm slot a couple of inches and the axis of his fastball has been tweaked so that it has more rise/run action than the sink and tail of before. Even though he’s not working with his absolute apex velocity, Henry’s mid-90s heater is still playing like a comfortably plus pitch against big league bats.”

According to Henry, the alterations were indeed a result of the injuries. When I broached the subject in September, he told me that he was a lot more over the top in college — his curveball was of the 12-6 variety — and that he’s basically just trying to lean in to what comes naturally.

“We didn’t make a conscious effort to do anything in particular with that,” he explained. “It’s just kind of the way it was when I started coming back throwing, and it felt good. I’ve basically been out there trying to stay athletic, doing my thing and kind of just letting it play.

“Throwing from a different angle than guys are used to is a good thing,” added Henry. “I’ve always had the run, and the lower slot might help it get a little bit of upshoot. To the batter, it looks like it carries.”

Sandy Alcantara is an interesting comp in terms of ride-run. Last year, the Miami Marlins right-hander averaged 13.1 inches of induced vertical break and 14.1 inches of induced horizontal break on his heater, whereas Henry averaged 14.2 vertical and 14.5 horizontal. And then there is Minnesota Twins righty Pablo López. He averaged 14.2 vertical and 6.5 horizontal. Meanwhile, Alcantara’s BABIP was .278, and is .273 for his career. López’s BABIP was .278, and a roughly-league-average .297 for his career.

The impact Henry’s lower slot has had on his secondaries is also worth addressing.

“I’d say that my curveball has turned into more of a sweeper,’ Henry told me. “We call it a sweeper, although Savant classifies it as a curveball. It’s usually anywhere from 13 to 17 horizontal, and then I’ll get a little bit of negative vert — it will be negative-one, negative-two — although sometimes it will be positive vert. So, to me it’s sweepery more so than a curveball. Regardless, I’m definitely a different pitcher now than I used to be.”

Maybe even one who will be getting ninth-inning opportunities for the Nationals. While he doesn’t specifically profile as a closer, neither did Clippard when he slid into that role some years ago (then became a setup man once Rafael Soriano, and later Drew Storen, entered the picture). Clippard’s career .241 BABIP is the lowest among pitchers to throw 800 or more innings over the past 20 seasons. Might Henry turn out to be a similar style of reliever? Just now, he presents as an intriguing option for the back end of Washington’s pen.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Danny Santana went 9 for 14 against Gerrit Cole.

Yordan Alvarez is 7 for 13 against Cole Ragans.

Henry “Heinie” Groh went 10 for 23 against Speed Martin.

Dick Cole went 10 for 23 against Carl Erskine.

Dave Hollins went 15 for 23 against Butch Henry.

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Jacob Wilson has a simple approach at the plate — the 23-year-old Athletics infielder is basically see-ball-hit-ball — and his pregame prep is likewise straightforward. I learned as much when I talked to him back in September.

“I do a lot of tee work: foam balls, trying to stay on top of the ball, using my hands to put it where I want it,” Wilson explained. “I don’t hit off of a machine. If I want to do BP, I’ll hit off of live arms, but mostly I’m just trying to get the body ready to go out there and play the game. I’ve had the same routine since I was in high school. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

There are certainly things that the 2023 first-rounder can improve upon, but what he is doing certainly works. Playing his first full big-league season in 2025, he slashed .311/.355.44 with 13 home runs and a 121 wRC+.

When it comes to conversations in the cage, Wilson enjoys talking to Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers, in part because they are fellow right-handed hitters who have first-hand knowledge of pitchers he has little or no experience against. More generally, he finds that talking hitting depends a lot on the day, “depending on what guys are feeling.” As for how deep into the weeds he typically gets, again, Wilson likes to keep it simple.

“I try not to think too much about hitting,” he told me. “When I think too much it starts to go the wrong way, so I kind of just see ball, hit ball. That’s my approach. I see it and hit it.”

The numbers back that up. Wilson’s 5.2% walk rate was 15th lowest in MLB among qualified hitters, while his 7.5% strikeout rate was second lowest behind only Luis Arraez, who had a paltry 3.1% K-rate (and a 5.0% BB-rate).

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A quiz:

Which player has hit the most home runs in a single season throughout Cincinnati Reds franchise history? (A hint: he went deep an NL-best 52 times that year while also setting a still-standing franchise record for most RBIs in a single season.)

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NEWS NOTES

FYI: News Notes — ditto Foreign Affairs — is off this week as this column was largely pre-written. The last seven days have been spent in London, enjoying football matches, museums, pubs, and various other vacation activities with family members.

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The answer to the quiz is George Foster, who had 149 RBIs to go with his 52 home runs for the Reds in the 1977 season.

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Bryce Cunningham was one of the more intriguing arms in the Arizona Fall league this past October. A second-round pick of the New York Yankees out of Vanderbilt University in 2024, the 23-year-old (as of late December) right-hander was in the desert making up for innings lost due to a shoulder injury. He’d pitched well when fully healthy. All told, Cunningham crafted a 2.82 ERA and a 25% strikeout rate over 54-and-a-third innings with High-A Hudson Valley.

His acclimation to professional baseball has included lessons in pitch design.

“The analytical side here is much more advanced than anything I’d been introduced to,” Cunningham explained during his AFL stint. “It’s been really cool to see that, and I’m definitely learning things to work on. I’m not making any changes to my old pitches, but I am learning new ones. Pitch grips are the big things for me right now.”

The Headland, Alabama native had always attacked hitters with a four-seam fastball and a changeup, as well as the occasional gyro slider. The Yankees have had him add a curveball, which he is throwing with a spiked grip, and a sweeper that he is throwing with “a little baby spike.” Cunningham feels that he has both grips “pretty nailed down,” although “polishing touches” are needed. He told me that the sweeper is still more of a work in progress, while the hook has been coming along well.

His plus changeup has a history that includes temporary residence in the righty’s back pocket.

“It’s the same as it’s always been — it’s just a four-seam circle changeup — but I actually had a little period in college where, in summer ball, I started throwing a splitter,” Cunningham explained. “I didn’t have a good feel for my changeup at that time, so I threw a split for a few months. Then I got back to school in the fall and was messing around in catch-play, throwing the old changeup, just to see where it was at. For some reason, it was better than before. That was weird. I’ve gone with it ever since.”

Cunningham is currently ranked seventh among Yankees prospects by Baseball America, while MLB Pipeline has him two spots higher at number five. Our NYY rankings are forthcoming.

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

Max West hit a three-run homer in the first inning, jumpstarting the National League to a 4-0 win over the American League in the 1940 Midsummer Classic, which was played at St. Louis’s Sportsman’s Park. It was the only All-Star appearance for the Dexter, Missouri native, who was then in his third of five full seasons with the Boston Bees (who became known as the Braves in 1941). An outfielder, West went deep 64 times while logging a 117 wRC+ from 1938-1942, then missed the next three seasons serving his country in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

West’s career temporarily went south after he returned to civilian life — he batted just .198 over 160 games while seeing action with three MLB teams from 1946-1948 — but then came a California revival. The long-forgotten slugger starred in the Pacific Coast League, swatting 78 home runs for the San Diego Padres across the 1949-1950 seasons, and another 70 homers for the Los Angeles Angels in the ensuing two seasons.

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I’ve long been of the opinion that Bill Freehan has a Hall of Fame argument. While his numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, the erstwhile Detroit Tigers stalwart was perennially the best catcher in the American League for a decade-plus. Over a 12-year span (1964-1975), Freehan earned All-Star honors 11 times, won five Gold Gloves, and backstopped his team to a World Series title in 1968. A good hitter at a defense-first position during a pitcher-friendly era, he slugged 200 home runs and put up a 113 wRC+ over his career.

Which brings us to Dave Concepcion. I had never really thought of the longtime (1970-1988) Cincinnati Reds shortstop as a Hall of Famer, but a recent conversation with a proponent of his worthiness prompted me to revisit his bona fides. One of the things I discovered is that he and Freehan make for an interesting comp.

In a 10-year stretch spanning the 1973-1982 seasons, Concepcion made nine All-Star teams, won five Gold Gloves, and served as a cornerstone on a pair of World Series championship squads. Overshadowed on a star-studded Big Red Machine, the slick-fielding Venezuela native won two Silver Sluggers and led all senior circuit shortstops in WAR, hits, doubles, and home runs over that span.

Does being the best in his league at a premium defensive position, for an extended period, qualify a player as Hall-worthy? Probably not, but it is an argument in favor, with Concepcion and Freehan being prime examples.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

Longtime Kansas City Royal Alex Gordon is on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. Mark Simon wrote about “one of baseball’s best defensive players of the last 25 years” for Sports Info Solutions.

At Almost Cooperstown, Mark Kolier wrote about 50 years of MLB closers.

At The Koppett Cat, Mike Ficher wrote about pitcher usage and how Major League Baseball has changed.

From the slowest pitch for a strikeout to the fastest inside-the-park home run, MLB.com’s David Adler chronicled the 15 most extreme Statcast plays of 2025.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Tim Raines stole 807 bases and was caught stealing 146 times. Tony Fernandez stole 246 bases and was caught stealing 138 times.

Lou Gehrig’s given first name was Henry. The Hall of Fame first baseman’s middle name was Louis.

Nellie Fox’s given first name was Jacob. The Hall of Fame second baseman’s middle name was Nelson.

Art Weaver — full name: Arthur Coggshall Weaver — was a catcher/first baseman who played for four MLB teams, including both that were located in St. Louis, across the 1902-1908 seasons. Nicknamed “Six-O’Clock,” the Wichita native also suited up for several teams in the minors, including the Boise Irrigators, Cedar Rapids Rabbits, Great Falls Electrics, Omaha Omahogs, and Salt Lake City Skyscrapers.

The Minnesota Twins signed Brian Harper to a free agent contract on today’s date in 1988. At the time a journeyman catcher who had played for five teams, exclusively in backup roles, he went on to become a mainstay in Minnesota from 1988-1993. Harper was behind the plate for the Twins when Atlanta’s John Smoltz shut them out in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Chin-Feng Chen as an international free agent on today’s date in 1999. An outfielder from Tainan City, Chen went on to become the first player born in Taiwan to play in MLB when he debuted with the Dodgers in 2002. While his success stateside was scant — just two hits in 22 at-bats — he later excelled in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Players born on today’s date include Blondy Ryan, who played for four teams, primarily the New York Giants, from 1930-1938. A product of the College of the Holy Cross, Ryan was the starting shortstop for the 1933 World Series champion Giants team that included Hall of Famers Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, and Bill Terry.

Also born on today’s date was Corky Valentine, a right-hander who went 14-12 with a 4.81 ERA over 221 innings for the Cincinnati Reds across the 1954-1955 seasons. Per his B-Ref bio page, the Roswell, Georgia native was once described by Henry Aaron as “The most ornery character in the league. I’m not saying he was a racist; I think Corky Valentine just hated everybody.”