Cardinals get brutal injury update on ace Jack Flaherty

The St. Louis Cardinals will be without ace Jack Flaherty for quite some time due to an oblique injury.

The St. Louis Cardinals are having a successful start to their 2021 season, as they sit just half a game behind the Chicago Cubs for first-place in the NL Central standings as of this writing. But they received some bad injury news when it comes to the ace of their starting rotation, Jack Flaherty.

According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, Flaherty is heading to the injured list with what is described as a “significant” left oblique injury. Cardinals manager say that there is no timetable for his return.

The Cardinals officially placed Flaherty on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a left oblique strain, and recalled right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo from Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move.

Cardinals place Jack Flaherty on 10-day injured list

Flaherty had just pitched on Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was pulled following an at-bat in the top of the sixth inning, where he was replaced by Ryan Helsley. Flaherty struck out nine batters while surrendering two earned runs on two hits through five innings of work.

Through 11 starts this season, Flaherty leads the league with eight wins. Additionally, Flaherty recorded a 2.90 ERA, a 1.032 WHIP, 67 strikeouts and 20 walks through 62.0 innings of work.

Oviedo is St. Louis’ No. 9 prospect in the farm system. The right-hander has pitched for the Cardinals five times this season, where he recorded a 5.40 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP and 0-2 win-loss record. In two games with Triple-A Memphis, Oviedo owns a 9.00 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP, where he struck out six batters in eight innings.