Cardinals Rumors: Willson Contreras, Jack Flaherty, trade talk
By Kevin Henry
Let’s take a look at some of the latest St. Louis Cardinals news, including notes on Jack Flaherty, Willson Contreras, and potential trades.
We’ll start our roundup in Chicago where the St. Louis Cardinals have won three consecutive games, including a pair against the arch-rival Cubs. As part of Tuesday night’s 6-4 victory, starting pitcher Jack Flaherty went 5.0 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs (including a home run) while walking five and striking out three.
Cardinals notebook: Jack Flaherty gets testy about velocity
It’s already been a very interesting season for Flaherty, who set the bar high for himself with a hype video before his first start and has walked an NL-high 27 batters in 39.1 innings over his first eight starts. After his start in Chicago, Flaherty seemed annoyed about any questions about his fastball velocity, an issue that manager Oliver Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake mentioned to reporters before their chance to talk to Flaherty.
Jack Flaherty told the assembled media this evening that he would not answer any questions about his fastball velocity. Here's that dialogue: pic.twitter.com/5555uFTRxj
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) May 10, 2023
A free agent next season, Flaherty has to step up as the campaign moves along if he’s not only going to help the Cardinals try to climb out of the NL Central cellar, but also continue to play a part in the Redbirds rotation moving forward. While he may not want to answer questions about his velocity, if his manager and pitching coach are discussing it, it might be worth sharing those answers.