DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers have reportedly signed former St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty.
According to Jeff Passan, the deal is for one year and $14 million. It also includes incentives that could add $1 million if he reaches 30 starts, per the report.
A few years ago, it looked like Flaherty was blossoming into one of the game’s best young starting pitchers. Over his first four seasons from 2018-2021, Flaherty struck out 547 batters in 466 innings while maintaining a 3.21 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.
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But the last two seasons have not been nearly as kind. His strikeout rate has dropped to one batter per inning and his ratios have ballooned to a 4.84 ERA and 1.59 WHIP across 180.1 innings.
The biggest problem for Flaherty has been an inflated walk rate to go along with the diminished swing-and-miss.
He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline this year after five and a half seasons in St. Louis. He didn’t fare well after the trade, but he did strike out 42 batters in 34.2 innings.
Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter has been excellent at getting the most out of pitchers, as he did with Michael Lorenzen last season. The 28-year-old Flaherty is certainly a candidate to bounce back if he can rediscover that trusty fastball-slider combo.
The Tigers added veteran starter Kenda Maeda earlier in the offseason, so the Opening Day starting rotation will probably look something like this:
- Tarik Skubal
- Kenta Maeda
- Matt Manning
- Jack Flaherty
- Casey Mize/Reese Olson/Sawyer Gipson-Long
