St. Louis Cardinals: Teammates raving about Jack Flaherty

The St Louis Cardinals have clearly missed Jack Flaherty since he went on the IL. On Friday, in his first start back, he showed just went they’ve missed.

On Friday night, a moment the St. Louis Cardinals have waited over two months for finally became reality. Jack Flaherty returned to the mound.

Boy, did he deliver.

Flaherty, the Cardinals’ unquestioned ace, looked comfortable and dominant on the mound, allowing only two hits and zero runs in six innings against the Kansas City Royals. He picked up where he left off when he went on the IL, dropping his season ERA to 2.65 and improving his record to 9-1 while posting a 1.3 WAR.

Afterwards, his teammates and coaches could only sing his praises. After all, Flaherty is the Cardinals’ unquestioned best starting pitcher and getting him back is a massive bonus and maximizes any chance of the team advancing to the postseason, though their odds are small as they sit 10.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

“It was a perfect outing for what we needed out of Jack,” manager Mike Shildt said, via Zachary Silver of MLB.com. “He was fantastic, and we’re glad he’s back.”

“He wants to carry this team just like [Adam] Wainwright and Yadi do, and he’s got the capability to do that,” Nolan Arenado said, via Silver.

Flaherty, 25, makes a gigantic impact on the Cardinals’ rotation. He is back as their ace and shifts Adam Wainwright back to the middle of the pitching staff. His presence should have moved one of J.A. Happ or Jon Lester to the bullpen, but with Kwang Hyun Kim and Wade LeBlanc battling injuries, it’s delayed that. But LeBlanc’s injury is not considered serious and Miles Mikolas should soon return, so the Cardinals’ rotation will be as close to 100 percent as it has been all season.

But Flaherty’s presence changes everything. And he showed that on Friday, leaving teammates in awe and making many wonder what might have been had he not severely strained his oblique.