St. Louis Cardinals: Jack Flaherty sharp in first rehab start

The St. Louis Cardinals need Jack Flaherty back big time and in his first rehab start with AAA Memphis, things went well for the team’s ace.

When looking back at the path the St. Louis Cardinals have taken to get where they are now this season, things really took a turn when Jack Flaherty was knocked out by a left oblique strain. Any team losing their best pitcher is going to knock them down, but this injury has been one of many suffered by the pitching staff the Cardinals have had to weather this season.

Thankfully for the team, it appears that both Flaherty and Mikolas will return soon.

In Mikolas’ case, he has already rehabbed at Memphis once this year only to leave his first start back with a re-aggravated injury. While his return would be welcomed, it is tough to count on him returning.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals: These are the best trade partners this off-season
• Cardinals: Jose Quintana’s Market Price is Overvalued
• Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt builds home for single mother and her family
• Cardinals: Is Lars Nootbaar underrated or overrated?
• 3 reasons why the Cardinals should wait to address rotation until 2024

For Flaherty though, the team needs him back in a big way. For the months that he has been out, zero starting pitching additions have been made and his return could be impactful to the Cardinals’ trade deadline plans.

On Tuesday, Flaherty made his first rehab start at AAA and looked like his old self. Quiet and confident on the mound, he threw 31 pitches over 2.0 innings against the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves’ AAA team. While it is AAA, the Stripers feature Drew Waters (No. 25 prospect per MLB.com) and Christian Pache (No. 10 prospect) as well as other players who have been up and down on the Braves this year.

While the Redbirds did lose the game, it was not on the shoulders of Jack Flaherty. In the first, the 25-year-old struck out Pache and Travis Demeritte. In the second, Flaherty gave up a double to Johan Camargo, but then worked around it and recorded another strikeout to end the inning.

While it had been reported that Flaherty was scheduled to get around 45 pitches, plans can change and him only going 2.0 innings isn’t anything to worry about. He had one instance where he was forced to race to first base to cover and was moving gingerly and without holding back. It couldn’t have gone any better.

After throwing 31 pitches in this first outing, it’ll probably take three more starts (at least) to get Flaherty up to speed. As much as the Cardinals need him back, it would be idiotic to rush him back.