How the Orioles unlocked Jack Flaherty when Cardinals couldn’t

Jack Flaherty’s first start with the Baltimore Orioles went about as well as it could, with the former Cardinals ace throwing six innings of one-run ball.

Jack Flaherty wasn’t the big-name pitching acquisition some Baltimore baseball fans wanted to make at the trade deadline. No, many assumed the O’s would use their prospect war chest to land the likes of Justin Verlander, Eduardo Rodriguez or even Dylan Cease. Instead, they went with the modest Flaherty, who just wants to find his role.

“Play my role — whatever that role is, whatever I’ve got to do to help these guys win,” Flaherty said after the trade. “They’ve done a really, really good job of doing that so far without me being here, so to be myself and go out and pitch well.”

In his first start as an Oriole on Thursday, Flaherty went six innings, giving up just one run and striking out eight Blue Jays hitters. It’s safe to say, the O’s have unlocked something in Flaherty early.

How the Orioles unlocked former Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty

Flaherty’s start saw a bump in his fastball velocity by over a full MPH. Perhaps the most noticeable change, though, was how often Baltimore called on Flaherty to use his cutter. He threw the pitch 28 percent of the time, which was a season high, and it was very effective for him.

Flaherty spent the better part of a decade in the Cardinals organization. There are some advantages to that sort of stability, but the disadvantage is the inability to see past the Cardinal Way of doing things. In a new environment, expect Flaherty to blossom some, especially from a pitching standpoint. At his best, Flaherty has ace-level potential, as he showed in at least one season in St. Louis. He appears excited about the opportunity.

“It’s exciting to be on a good team. It’s exciting to be on a team that’s in it,” Flaherty said. “There was a lot of promise in St. Louis, and things didn’t work out, sometimes that’s just the way it goes and you can’t really do much about it. And now, it’s just about moving forward.”

Flaherty took his first step forward on Thursday.