Jack Flaherty: Another former Cardinal succeeding outside of St. Louis

Sandy Alcantara. Zac Gallen. Randy Arozarena. Adolis Garcia. Lane Thomas. Tyler O’Neill. Jordan Hicks.  

These are the names of current MLB players who were in the St. Louis Cardinals organization at one point in their careers. They are also the names of players traded by the Cardinals or designated for assignment twice in Garcia's case.

You can start to pencil Jack Flaherty into that list. 

In Detroit’s 5-0 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Flaherty allowed one hit and one walk while striking out nine in six and two-thirds innings. 

Flaherty signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers after he was traded by the Cardinals to the Orioles last season for Baltimore's push to the playoffs. So far, Flaherty has a 3.46 ERA, his lowest since 2018. However, Flaherty supports a spectacular 2.78 FIP and 1.005 WHIP, his lowest since his 2019 season with St. Louis. 

Other than staying healthy, what is Flaherty doing in Detroit that is different from what he did in St. Louis from a pitching perspective?

Well according to Baseball Savant, Flaherty is getting batters to whiff more often, almost like he did in his early seasons in St. Louis.

Jack Flaherty Whiff% between 2018-2024 on 4-seam fastballs, sliders, and knucklecurves

According to Baseball Savant, Flaherty is getting batters to whiff more often on breaking balls, almost like he did in his early seasons in St. Louis. One notable change above is the swing-and-miss on the four-seam fastball. 

These changes to his pitches have caused his K% to rise to 34% and his BB% to lower to a marvelous 3.8%. Batters are struggling to hit the pitches Flaherty throws, as noted by a 4.3% Barrel percentage, easily his career lowest. Statcast also shows that Flaherty is utilizing his slider more frequently than he did with the Cardinals. 

Why do the St. Louis Cardinals not get this from their pitchers while other organizations can? 

Seeing another player grow when he leaves the Cardinals organization is frustrating. It is another example of the Cardinals' antiquated player development model. Let's hope Chaim Bloom can fix this pitching development mess.