It won’t be too much longer before Jack Flaherty makes his return to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Last night, the right-hander threw 6.2 innings of three-run ball at Double-A Springfield and struck out nine batters.
Flaherty, who had been the Cardinals Opening Day starter in 2020 and 2021, has been out most of the season with shoulder troubles.
After returning for a few starts, Flaherty went down again with a similar issue in late June and has been out ever since.
But he appears to be making good progress in his rehab assignment and looks ready to come back.
His scheduled return date is September 5 against the Washington Nationals.
Flaherty Impresses Again In Rehab
Having Flaherty back would be a huge boost for the Cardinals.
If he’s healthy, he can be one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.
In 2019, he carried the Cards through the second half of the season and finished the year with a 2.75 ERA.
He was off to a good start in 2021 before an oblique injury shut him down for a few months.
If he’s good to go, the Cardinals should be able to slot him in next to Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas in their rotation.
A rotation featuring those three and new acquisitions Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery could end up being one of the best rotations in all of baseball, even rivaling that of the New York Mets.
The Cardinals have to be pleased with what they’ve seen from him in his rehab starts.
He’s been pitching like he did in that dominant stretch of the 2019 season.
If he can get back to that form, then teams are going to have a tough time against Cardinals starters the rest of the way.
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