DETROIT — The first Jack Flaherty strikeout came on a wicked 85 mph slider down and away. The second came on another slider whirling out of the zone, one that caused Willson Contreras to swing and touch nothing but air.
“You could kind of feel it early on in the game,” Detroit Tigers catcher Carson Kelly said. “Actually before the game in his bullpen. He was on a mission.”
The third strikeout came on a 97.8 mph fastball past Lars Nootbaar, and the fourth a dotted fastball that froze Nolan Arenado. The fifth was an outside fastball past Paul Goldschmidt, the sixth a backfoot slider that made Alec Burleson look foolish and the seventh a devilish knuckle curve that tricked Nolan Gorman.
“I knew it would be emotional for him to pitch against the Cardinals, his team that he grew up in the big leagues with,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “What I didn’t know was he was gonna bring his best fastball into the first inning and then just take off and dominate.”
That is how Flaherty started his day. Seven batters, seven strikeouts. He set a Tigers franchise record for the most strikeouts to begin a game. He became only the fifth pitcher in American League history to record such a feat. His Tuesday outing finished with a dazzling final line: 6 2/3 innings, two hits, no runs, one walk and a career-high 14 strikeouts.
2 minutes and 25 seconds of sorcery. #RepDetroit @jflare_ pic.twitter.com/3EcKq6IEuU
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 30, 2024
“I think sometimes in the past he’s kind of (started) a little bit slow,” Kelly said. “The message was, ‘Go right from Pitch 1.’ I think that was something he really took to heart, and he had a career day.”
The outing served as an ultimate revenge game, even if Flaherty’s pregame intensity was softened when former Cardinals teammates razzed him from the opposing dugout.
“It was hard not to laugh out there a little bit,” Flaherty said, “and it might have calmed things down for me and then was able to lock in from there.”
Just two days earlier, Flaherty stood in front of his locker and revisited his roots with the Cardinals, the organization that drafted him out of Harvard-Westlake High School (Los Angeles) in 2014, the place where he blossomed into one of the best young pitchers in baseball.
“They gave me a chance to do what I wanted to do since I was a little kid,” Flaherty said. “They gave me that chance. They gave me that opportunity. I’m forever grateful to them and the city of St. Louis.”
Flaherty waxed nostalgic about the teams he played on and the pitchers he learned from. He sang the praises of Adam Wainwright, the work ethic and preparation Flaherty tried to adopt as his own. There were also injuries and a regression that marred the back half of Flaherty’s time in St. Louis. Per the Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals never extended an offer to Flaherty this offseason after trading him to the Orioles at last season’s deadline.
What the Cardinals moved on from, the Tigers pounced at. It’s well-documented by now. The meeting with Hinch in Las Vegas. The comparing of notes, both Flaherty’s camp and the Tigers’ pitching coaches arriving at similar conclusions for how to recapture the stuff that once made Flaherty one of the best young pitchers in baseball — a guy who finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting at age 23. There was the dive into biomechanics, the revamped motion down the mound, and the increased velocity in spring training.
“I’ve loved having him around to learn what his journey has been like and what he’s learned about pitching,” Hinch said. “I love more when he’s on the mound.”
Before Tuesday’s outing, the regular-season results had been mixed. Flaherty’s stuff looked lethal at times. He came into the day ranking in MLB’s 94 percentile in whiff rate and had walked only four batters. But his outings had also been undone by a few costly mistakes. His 4.91 ERA entering play obscured the 3.64 FIP and 2.71 xFIP that suggested better results could be ahead. Tuesday, Flaherty made a concerted effort to use his entire arsenal and bring his best stuff from the jump.
“I know I can (pitch at a high level),” Flaherty said. “It was nice to come out and be in sync from pitch one. I had a couple (starts) where I didn’t quite come out the gates as hot. It was good to come out the gates hot and continue to keep it going from there.”
Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader against his old team, Flaherty redefined what good results can look like. He spent the entire day in total control. He threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the first 20 batters he faced. Masyn Winn was the first Cardinal to avoid the fate of a strikeout when he grounded to shortstop in the third inning. Ivan Herrera followed and became the first Cardinal to reach base when he roped a single into the outfield.
Flaherty was unfazed. His run of strikeouts continued. His fastball topped at 97.8 mph in the first inning, the hardest pitch he has thrown since his 2019 heyday. “Flaherty, man. Exceptional job,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “His stuff was on and it was nasty.” He recorded 24 devastating swinging strikes, including with 10 with the fastball, seven with the slider and five with his knuckle curve. He faced his final batter of the day in the seventh inning, with his Tigers clinging to a one-run lead, and sliced a slider past Goldschmidt.
“I think he spent a lot of energy today,” Hinch said. “He was tired at the end. But what an impressive outing.”
When Hinch came to remove Flaherty after 93 pitches, a small day-game crowd gave him a standing ovation. They showed his mother cheering on the video board.
By the ninth inning, the Tigers succumbed to an unfortunate fate, Shelby Miller (another former Cardinal) blew the save as the Tigers’ offense failed to generate adequate run support. The Tigers lost 2-1 and put a damper on Flaherty’s excellent outing.
But Tuesday showed exactly why the Tigers signed Flaherty this offseason. Exactly why he came to Detroit.
“It was just one of those days where everything was kind of in sync and working, and you hope to capitalize on those days,” Flaherty said.
(Top photo: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)
