Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox would not be the only MLB ace to make his season-debut this week. While Lynn retuned to the bump on Monday for the South Siders, it was reported Tuesday afternoon that St. Louis Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty will be making his first start of 2022 on Wednesday.
Jack Flaherty will start for the #STLCards on Wednesday.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) June 14, 2022
#STLCards manager Oliver Marmol said the decision to start RHP Jack Flaherty was made prior to Tuesday’s game. Flaherty will throw 60 pitches tomorrow in St. Louis as opposed to 75 pitches in Memphis.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) June 14, 2022
According to MLB.com's John Denton, a "very big factor" in the team having Flaherty debut on Wednesday, instead of getting one more rehab start in were the "advanced metrics on his pitches" and the 26-year-old's "insistence that his arm and stuff feel as good as they have since 2019. Three years ago, Flaherty had his most dominant campaign, going 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA over 196 1/3 innings in 33 starts, while striking out 231 batters and leading the league in WHIP (0.96) and hits per nine innings (6.2).
He captured the NL Pitcher of the Month honors in both August and September 2019 and ended up placing fourth in the NL Cy Young vote.
The Burbank, Calif. native registered only 78 1/3 innings pitched over 17 games (15 starts) in 2021 due to an oblique injury followed by a shoulder strain. Flaherty's shoulder issues popped up again to begin 2022, but it was reported in late May that he was set to face live hitters -- a big step in his way back to the Cardinals rotation.
#STLCards manager Oliver Marmol said “we’ve got to be able to trust our guys” following conversations with RHP Jack Flaherty, who convinced the team that he was ready to start in St. Louis on Wednesday. Said Oli: “We operate out of honesty.”
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) June 14, 2022
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