was one of the more interesting mid-level starting pitchers in last years free agent cla s. The righty was arguably the best pitcher in MLB in the second half of 2019, but he didnt cement himself as an ace in the following few seasons. He struggled in nine starts during the shortened season. Oblique and shoulder injuries cost him good chunks of the 2021 and 22 campaigns, respectively. Flaherty stayed healthy for his walk year but allowed nearly five earned runs per nine between the Cardinals and Orioles. That left both his camp and interested teams with questions once he hit the market. Was Flaherty still an upside play who had a realistic chance to turn in top-of-the-rotation results? If he felt that way, would he be best served taking a one-year deal and retesting the market next year? At 28, Flaherty was one of the youngest free agents of note. He ultimately chose the one-year route, signing a $14MM guarantee with the Tigers that contained another $1MM in performance bonuses. Its far too early to definitively declare the move a succe s, but his first month in Detroit has gone better than expected. Flahertys even 4.00 earned run average through 36 innings isnt especially noteworthy. Yet he leads the American League with 50 strikeouts and has only i sued five walks. His 16.4% swinging strike percentage would easily be a career high. Its nearly six points up from last season. Among pitchers with 30+ innings, only has a higher strikeout rate than Flahertys 34%. is the only pitcher getting more whiffs on a per-pitch basis. Flaherty is coming off a career-high 14 strikeouts in Tuesdays matchup against his old teammates with St. Louis. Theres only so much a player can prove in Ryan Arcidiacono Jersey a six-game sample, but Flaherty hasnt mi sed bats at anything close to this level in five years. Using the , we see that Flaherty hadnt recorded more than 40 strikeouts in a six-game stretch at any point since his dazzling finish in 2019. While the ERA hasnt caught up, Flaherty is dominating the strike zone in a way that he hasnt for some time. Flahertys stuff has ticked up slightly in the early going. His fastball is averaging 93.8 MPH, around half a mile per hour above where it sat in the previous two seasons. Perhaps more impactful has been the increased effectivene s of his breaking stuff. Flahertys best pitch, his slider, is mi sing bats at a high level after it waned in 2022-23. Opponents have come up empty half the time theyve offered at his curveball. Flaherty is attacking hitters, particularly left-handers, with the breaking pitches a little more frequently than he has in previous seasons. Theres a long way to go before he puts the questions about his 2021-23 performance behind him completely. As the season progre ses, hell face tougher opposition than he has gotten thus far. Of his six starts, four have come against teams (the White Sox, As, Rays and Cardinals) that have been subpar offensively. Only his two starts against the Twins have been against a club with an above-average team batting line. While Minnesota has been solid overall, theyre a high-strikeout offense. Yet if Flaherty stays healthy and continues to overpower opponents at anything close to this level, hell be in line for a much more lucrative free agent trip. Hell play all of next season at 29, which is still atypically young for a free agent starter. Hed be a clear qualifying offer candidate (a suming the Tigers stay in the postseason mix and dont trade him at the deadline), but he shouldnt have much i sue turning that down and landing a better multi-year pact. Next winters cla s has a lot of high-variance but intriguing starters who could dramatically improve their stock in the next five months (i.e. , , , ). Flaherty has a legitimate path to the top of that group, which could make him the #3 pitcher available behind and . Image courtesy of USA Today Sports. Devon Dotson Jersey
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