SAN DIEGO — Jack Flaherty has spent most of this week in stasis. The right-hander was scheduled to start Monday afternoon in Detroit, yet sat in the dugout as the Tigers scratched him from his start amid a flurry of trade rumors. The Tigers had a day game against the Cleveland Guardians on trade deadline day, and he sat then, too, waiting to hear his fate.
Flaherty figured he’d be moved. He sat in a quickly vacating home clubhouse at Comerica Park when his agent, Ryan Hamill of CAA, called him. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch stuck around and said his goodbyes to a right-hander who resurrected the ascendant trajectory of his career.
It’ll be another few days until Flaherty actually takes the mound. But come Saturday night, he’ll make his Los Angeles Dodgers debut hoping to show an impact arm capable of factoring into their October pitching plans.
“I think everyone deep down wants to play for their hometown team,” said Flaherty, who pitched at local Harvard-Westlake High School. “Getting the opportunity is just special.”
Pitching for his hometown club, Flaherty arrives with the hype that comes with being the best pitcher move at the trade deadline. A year ago, he was swapped at the deadline with minimal expectations; the Baltimore Orioles had banished the former St. Louis Cardinal to their bullpen by the time the postseason rolled around.
Jack Flaherty is here. pic.twitter.com/sovmnWKUND
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) July 31, 2024
Flaherty is in the midst of a career renaissance. Flaherty was once one of the top young arms in the sport, finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting at age 24.
“That second half, he was just about the best pitcher in baseball,” said Tommy Edman, the pitcher’s teammate with the Cardinals that season and, now, again with the Dodgers.
Injuries and maddening inconsistency followed. A one-year pact with the Tigers offered a chance to reestablish his value. A bevy of mechanical adjustments have made that possible. Through 18 starts, Flaherty has a 2.95 ERA. His velocity is up a smidge, to 93.5 mph. He’s ditched his cutter and relied on a slider that moves more sharply than it did a year ago.
“Mentally you make some changes and physically you make some changes,” Flaherty said. “We dove into some things.”
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes noted modifications that abbreviated Flaherty’s arm action and simplified things. Assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness observed that Flaherty regained his explosiveness, turning flashes of his younger, dominant self into something more sustainable.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see him kind of get him get back to the Jack Flaherty we all were accustomed to watching when he first came into the league,” McGuiness said. “When that guy’s got power with that slider and he’s able to really use that slider to his advantage, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. … It wasn’t too long ago that this guy was doing this every start.”
His arrival in Los Angeles comes with some measure of pause. The Athletic reported Tuesday that the New York Yankees scuttled a potential deal to acquire Flaherty because of concerns about the right-hander’s back. Flaherty received two injections in his lower back and missed a start last month due to the issue.
Since then, he’s posted a 1.53 ERA in three starts.
“I just know that I feel good,” Flahert said Wednesday. “I’m ready to go.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Flaherty’s back was not prohibitive when it came to the team’s interest in acquiring Flaherty. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the club feels “very comfortable” that Flaherty’s back won’t be an issue for the final months of the season before he hits free agency.
As it is, the Dodgers already have enough question marks in their rotation picture.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to throw a bullpen session on Friday, marking his first time throwing off a mound since suffering a strained rotator cuff in June. Clayton Kershaw made just his second start since offseason shoulder surgery on Wednesday. As much as the club is counting on Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller to reemerge as rotation pieces, both have struggled during their time at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Tyler Glasnow set a new career-high in innings pitched (121) after completing seven innings against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. The Dodgers have gotten the second-best ERA in baseball from their rookie starters (3.04) but would prefer to lean on more experienced pitchers in October.
The bullpen has already felt the cascading effects of the club’s rotation uncertainty. On Tuesday, the same day the Dodgers got their first quality start since June 26 (when Gavin Stone threw a shutout against the White Sox), the club blew its third five-run lead in a 16-day span.
“We just haven’t really been good as a staff in the last 30 days,” Roberts said.
Flaherty was acquired to add stability, just months after stabilizing his career.
“It’s fun,” Flaherty said. “You want those expectations. You want to be a part of that. You want to be part of a team with those expectations. That’s what I came up with in St. Louis, expecting to win, wanting to win, being a part of that. If they bring me in for that, then hopefully I can contribute in as many ways as possible.”
(Photo of Jack Flaherty: Nick Cammett / Associated Press)
