Photo via: @jflare on Instagram
Jack Flaherty has reached a level of consistency that has never been able to maintain in his eight-season career. Since I last wrote about Detroit’s excellent starter, he has pitched in four games with a 3.09 ERA and 0.177 opponent BA. Instead of looking at a possible playoff run with the Tigers, Flaherty may be expecting October baseball elsewhere.
After a rough 5-run outing in Anaheim, Flaherty finished the first half with a great performance against the Guardians. He tossed 6 innings, allowing just two hits and two runs. The sole run was a solo shot by Bo Naylor in the third inning, as the Tigers won 10-1.
Flaherty finished his first half with solid numbers. He had a 3.13 ERA, 7.44 K/BB ratio, and 0.219 opponent BA. However, he was snubbed of a spot on the All-Star team, meaning he remains without a selection in his career. His teammate in the rotation, Tarik Skubal, was selected to the team, but lost out the starting position to Corbin Burnes.
Since returning, Flaherty has shoved in his past two starts on the road.
The Tigers traveled to Toronto for a three-game series, where Flaherty took the mound in the first game. Flaherty allowed no runs through five innings, striking out six. In the sixth, he sat down Kevin Kiermier and George Springer on strikes, but walked Spencer Horwitz and allowed a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He was promptly removed from the game.
In the end, while Flaherty did allow the two runs on the homer, his performance remained stellar. He allowed just three hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Without him, the Tigers would likely have lost, but instead squeaked out a 5-4 victory.
On Monday, Flaherty and Detroit headed to Cleveland for a four-game series. The teams split the first two games and looked to take a series win yesterday. Flaherty was given the ball, dominating batters through six innings. He only allowed one run in the sixth on a Steven Kwan single, which was unearned.
Flaherty had six strikeouts, three hits, and two walks, while lowering his ERA to 2.95. However, the Tigers would lose on an RBI single to Josh Naylor in the bottom of the eighth. Flaherty was not credited with the loss.
Losing in spite of a great pitching performance has not been uncharacteristic for Detroit this season. They rank 18th in runs per game and boast a 50-53 record. In one-run games, they are 17-19. Baseball Reference gives them just a 7.7% chance of making the playoffs.
Because of the Tigers’ mediocrity, combined with Flaherty’s contract expiring after this season, a trade looks likely at the deadline. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press confirmed this, stating that the Tigers “plan to trade Flaherty” but won’t be looking to flip Skubal.
After over six years of playing in St. Louis, Flaherty was traded to the Orioles last season. In 9 outings, he disappointed with a 6.75 ERA and pitched just two postseason innings. However, the Orioles remain a competitive team in the AL and could use another arm in the rotation. Some speculate Flaherty could be headed right back to Baltimore for an AL Pennant or World Series push.
After spending $1.21 billion this offseason, the Dodgers have had a disastrous rotation. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Landon Knack, and others have had little or no starts due to injury. Los Angeles desperately needs pitching help at the trade deadline and there’s few better options than Flaherty, a California-native.
My home team, the Phillies, could also use Flaherty. It’s been stated that they’ve been eyeing him, as well as Garret Crochet, in hopes of a deep-playoff push. Flaherty could be a great option to replace the injured and struggling Taijuan Walker in the rotarion, and could also be used as a bullpen arm in the playoffs.
The Yankees, Twins, Brewers, Braves, Guardians, and others have been named as other potential buyers. There are few playoff teams who wouldn’t benefit with Flaherty as a rental.
The trade deadline is July 30th. There is a chance he will not make another start for Detroit this season. FlahertyFans will provide all updates.
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Adam Cooke Journalism 