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Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was recently traded to the Tigers. Can he bounce back and become a staff ace again? What is his fantasy baseball outlook for 2024?
Back in 2019, Jack Flaherty looked like he was going to be one of the next workhorse aces in the league, posting a 2.75 ERA and 0.97 WHIP across 196.1 IP, recording 231 K and a sterling 22.8% K-BB%. The 2020 COVID season aside, he looked like his dominant self again at the start of 2021, starting the season 8-0 with a 2.53 ERA before oblique and shoulder injuries sidelined him for most of the rest of the season.
Jack Flaherty in NLDS Game 5:
6 IP. 4 H. ER, BB, 8 K
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He turns 24 next week. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/s25Z3VL0lR
— STL Sports Central (@stlsportscntrl) October 10, 2019
2022 was marred by injuries as well -- he pitched in just nine games -- so with full health, 2023 was supposed to be a bounce-back campaign. Pitching for the entire season may have been a win, but he hardly had success.
Flaherty spent the last couple months of the season with Baltimore, but now he finds himself in Detroit on a one-year deal. If he can show he's got something left in the tank, perhaps he can sign a multi-year deal in 2025.
Jack Flaherty's Fantasy Baseball Outlook for 2024
As mentioned, Flaherty has (or at least had) the skills to be a staff ace, so if he's able to show he's still got it, then he should see a nice payday following the season. He's still just 28, he's got the motivation, and now he's got new scenery. Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes to rekindle the magic.
It's hard to say if Flaherty can fix what ails him, but having a new pitching coach look at things from a different angle for an entire offseason should do him good. Looking at BaseballSavant.com, it's clear his fastball is a tad slower, has less movement on it, and his stride is shorter than it used to be. He's now got a six-pitch arsenal, up from a five-pitch arsenal in 2021, so maybe there's an opportunity to cut back on quantity in order to ensure quality. Better to have three or four good pitches than six mediocre ones.
Jack Flaherty's 3Ks in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/aTMc2Whlqt
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 5, 2022
Something else he can control are the amount of free passes given. In Flaherty's best season (2019), he had a BB/9 of 2.52, but in 2023 that ballooned to 4.12. In 2023, he maintained an above average K/9 of 9.23 and K% of 22%. With a career BABIP of .282, last year's .356 indicates he may have been the victim of some bad luck, and his xFIP of 4.36 suggests his 4.99 ERA should have been better.
Currently going undrafted in most leagues, Flaherty should still be on watch lists in the event he can get back to some semblance of his pre-2022 form. Being on Detroit likely won't produce a multitude of wins, but if the Flaherty of old shows up, you can count on high Ks with usable ERA and WHIP.
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