Jack Flaherty loved his time in St. Louis. In fact, he never wanted to leave, as evidenced by his interviews before he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 2023. However, the Cards failed to commit to Flaherty long term, and there was a good reason for that – despite some flashes of brilliance early in his career, Flaherty never took a step forward. He's a mid-tier starting pitcher, at best, and the Tigers are learning this lesson the hard way.
Sure, it took a few seasons, but Flaherty's electric first half to the 2024 season proved to be a fluke. Detroit traded Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last season's deadline, only for Flaherty to struggle in the postseason and, inevitably, find his way back to the Tigers after winning a World Series (we use the term winning loosely). With the Tigers in 2025, Flaherty has looked far more like the player the Cardinals let go, pitching to a 4.64 ERA in 31 starts and struggling his second and third time through the lineup.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Were the Cardinals right about Jack Flaherty all along?
Well, as I wrote back in the summer, Flaherty is not an ace. The Cardinals knew this, which is why they traded him to Baltimore in 2023. In a way even Detroit knew this, as Tarik Skubal is the unquestioned leader of this pitching staff and arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball. However, the Tigers are counting on Flaherty for more than he can deliver, which is to be the clear-cut No. 2 on their pitching staff in the postseason. In Game 3 against Seattle in the ALDS, Flaherty struggled with the bottom of the Mariners lineup, and then nearly fell apart when the top of the M's order had a chance to drive in even more runs.
Here's what I wrote back in June about Flaherty's ups and downs in St. Louis:
"Flaherty's time with the Cardinals was full of ups and downs, which included some negative interactions with the fanbase on social media. Flaherty cannot be blamed fully for that – Cards fans are a notoriously tough bunch to please – but a pitcher who was supposed to be St. Louis' ace of the future and the heir-apparent to Adam Wainwright...didn't quite work out. Flaherty's exit was tough enough for Cards' fans to swallow, but he hasn't exactly righted the ship due to his lack of consistency."
Tigers faith in Jack Flaherty came back to bite them in Game 3
Detroit started Flaherty in Game 3, and much like he has all season, he struggled against the Mariners lineup in their second time through the order. Flaherty gave up a solo home run to Eugenio Suarez in the top of the fourth inning. Suarez, ironically enough, was open to a trade to the Tigers at the deadline. Scott Harris refused to budge on Suarez's asking price, and it came back to bite Detroit.
Flaherty was not ace quality in St. Louis, as he wasn't fit to replace the great Adam Wainwright. In Detroit, he's a borderline top-3 starting pitcher. Had Harris approached the deadline the right way, rather than trading for spare bullpen parts, perhaps he could've added to the rotation so Detroit didn't have to rely so heavily on Flaherty. Yet, here we are in an all-important home game in the ALDS – the Tigers first of the postseason – with the right-hander failing to get past the fourth inning.
We can't say we didn't see it coming.