Even after signing Kenta Maeda to a two-year deal, the Tigers knew they were still in the market for a starting pitching prospect.
Detroit made another signing on Thursday, agreeing to a one-year, $14 million contract with right-hander Jack Flaherty, a source told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The club has not confirmed the deal.
The 28-year-old joins Maeda in an up-and-coming Detroit rotation that includes promising young talent like Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning and Reese Olson.
When Flaherty posted a 2.75 ERA and 5.8 bWAR as a 23-year-old in 2019 and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting for the Cardinals, there seemed to be no limits for the rising ace. Since then, however, Flaherty has fluctuated between missing time due to injury and not quite reaching the high standard of 19.
From 2020 to 2022, Flaherty played in just 35 games and threw 154 2/3 innings due to recurring shoulder problems and an oblique issue. His ERA rose to 3.90 during that time, while his previously strong starting strikeout and walk numbers fell to about league average levels. To his credit, Flaherty was able to bounce back from an injury-plagued stretch and look like a full-time starting pitcher in 1923.
Flaherty threw 144 1/3 innings in 2023, the most since his dominant '19 season. On the other hand, his 4.99 ERA, 5.10 expected ERA and 10.2% walk rate represented the worst results of his career in each Season in which he pitched at least 50 innings. A brief summary of his problems in 1923 can be attributed to poor command, a 93.1 mph fastball average, and a once-dominant slider that allowed an OPS of .959.
After the long-time Cardinal was traded to the Orioles in August, Flaherty posted a 6.75 ERA in nine games (seven starts) with Baltimore. Given a difficult end to the season that ended with him out of the bullpen for the Orioles, questions remain about his potential effectiveness as a full-time starter. However, despite some of the recent concerns, Flaherty is only 28 years old, has a high level of previous success and is healthy for the first time in a long time.