Aeden Finateri's Role in Alabama Baseball's Pitching Stable: Just a Minute

The Alabama baseball team ended up being in a bind going into Sunday's series finale against then-No. 9 Oklahoma. Specifically, the Crimson Tide was down a man in its weekend rotation, since Riley Quick wasn't fully recovered from a blood blister that impacted his last start against Tennessee.

Right-hander Aeden Finateri, a Georgia Tech transfer, had two prior starts in the 2025 season. The third was easily the most important, and he rose to the challenge, delivering 4.2 innings of two-run ball as the Crimson Tide won 8-6, clinched the series and moved up to No. 8 in D1Baseball's Top 25.

Finateri has already been something of a swingman for Alabama this spring, with seven appearances and 15 innings to his name overall and an even 3.00 ERA. A performance like the one he had on Sunday will give a coaching staff extreme confidence for future games.

That means his name can come up again if Rob Vaughn, Jason Jackson and the rest of the staff need somebody to take the ball first for a big spot start. Every game in the SEC is important, and the Crimson Tide (25-4, 6-3 SEC) sent out a pitcher who threw with those stakes on the line Sunday.

Plenty more awaits in this college baseball season, even though the regular season is more than halfway over for Alabama. There will almost assuredly be times where the team needs one of its arms to step up. Finateri set the tone for that with his start against the Sooners.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral baseball writer Will Miller breaks down Aeden Finateri's Sunday start against Oklahoma and analyzes what it may mean in terms of future appearances for the righty.

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