Melananted Mound Marauder Jack Flaherty just inked a one-year, $14M contract with the Detroit Tigers. Flaherty is a savvy veteran that was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round with the 34th overall pick in the 2014 MLB draft.
Flaherty is a capable starter, who has had flashes of brilliance throughout an injury-ridden career. Injuries and inconsistency, more than anything, has stopped his rise.
Early Years
Flaherty started the 2017 season with the Springfield Cardinals, the Double A team of the St Louis Cardinals. In the same year, Flaherty was promoted to the Memphis Redbirds, with a 7-2 record with a 2.74 ERA in 15 starts. The gritty hurler earned 2017 Minor League Player of the Year.
Flaherty finally made his debut in the MLB on September 1, 2017, against the San Francisco Giants.
Jack Flaherty Becomes A Rising MLB Star
He won his first game in 2018 and had his best pro season in 2019, earning All-MLB Second Team honors and breaking through as a potential Black Ace of the future.
Flaherty did so well that season as a Cardinal that he was nominated for his first ever Golden Glove and finished fourth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
Coming off an elite 2019 campaign, the future was bright for “Black Jack,” who was hoping to continue the moment going into 2020, but the COVID shortened season threw off his plans. He only started in nine games with a record of 4-3 with 49 strikeouts.
Injury & Adversity
Then the 2021 and 2022 season combined he made just 26 appearances with 20 starts. In 2021, Flaherty was on his way to a potential 20-win season, before getting hurt and finishing with a sterling 9-2 record.
Flaherty faced more adversity this past season after signing a one-year deal with the St Louis Cardinals for $5.4 million. Flaherty never got in his zone and was moved during the trade deadline to the surging Baltimore Orioles for César Prieto, Drew Rom, and Zack Showalter.
There were some ups and downs in 2023 for Flaherty.
He had elite moments like winning his Orioles debut with a 6–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. But on the other hand, there were some bad moments like allowing 7 home runs in 7 games.
“Baseball is weird, sometimes things just go that way. No matter what you do.” Flaherty to MLBbro.com
Despite the up and down season, an optimistic Detroit Tigers franchise is hoping Flaherty can turn the clock back to his All-MLB form. The Tigers finished second place in the AL Central last season. This is an opportunity for Flaherty to get his career back on track and help Detroit make a long-awaited postseason run.
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