Detroit Tigers' Jack Flaherty faces Cardinals for first time; St. Louis influence still strong

For Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty, his start in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals is going to be like pitching against any other team.

Executing pitches remains the main focus.

But the Cardinals aren't just any other team.

"Just happen to know those guys a little bit better than anybody else," Flaherty said. "I'm sure I'll hear them. I'll try to not, but I know I'm going to hear them. It's going to be a little different."

Flaherty, who pitched for the Cardinals from 2017-23, expects to hear the most trash talk from right-hander Miles Mikolas and outfielder Lars Nootbaar. The Cardinals traded Flaherty to the Baltimore Orioles last August at the trade deadline, and in free agency this past offseason, Flaherty signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers in search of a bounce-back season.

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Now, the Tigers are facing the Cardinals at Comerica Park.

It's not Busch Stadium in St. Louis, but it is the first time Flaherty will pitch against his longtime team.

"I've loved having him around to learn what his journey has been like and what he's learned about pitching," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, "but I love more when he's on the mound. I like his competitiveness, I like his pitches. He'll have a little extra adrenaline facing some guys that he knows and a uniform that he's very familiar with and, quite honestly, a uniform that means a lot to him."

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The Cardinals selected Flaherty with the No. 34 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of high school, and in September 2017, he joined pitcher Adam Wainwright, catcher Yadier Molina and outfielder Matt Carpenter — three of the most beloved and successful players in franchise history — on the big-league roster for his MLB debut.

The 28-year-old talks a lot about his time in St. Louis.

That's because the Cardinals represent the foundation of everything Flaherty knows about pitching.

"That is the likes of Wainwright and Carpenter and veteran guys that showed him the way," Hinch said. "You can see how in control Jack is of his game planning, his delivery, his mindset, his competitiveness, that all kickstarted in St. Louis."

Flaherty logged a 3.58 ERA with 706 strikeouts in seven seasons with the Cardinals. He owns a 4.91 ERA with four walks and 36 strikeouts across 29⅓ innings in four starts since joining the Tigers for the 2024 season.

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He learned a lot from the veteran pitchers during his early years with the Cardinals, specifically work ethic. As an eight-year MLB veteran, despite not being in his 30s yet, he is ready and willing to influence the next generation of pitchers with the Tigers.

"The adjustments that you have to make in the game," Flaherty said. "What you did to get here is great, and you got to hold onto those things, but you also got to be able to make adjustments. For pitchers, it's start to start, really pitch to pitch, inning to inning, game to game and year to year. As the league adjusts to you, maybe you have to make an adjustment here and there. It's constantly understanding and evolving in that what you do is what you do, and that allowed you to get there, and then there are always a couple things that you make adjustments to. And then just continue to put the work in. That's what those guys did."

Flaherty learned a lot from Wainwright.

A three-time All-Star and 2006 World Series champion, Wainwright posted a 3.53 ERA with 2,202 strikeouts and 200 wins across 18 MLB seasons — all as a member of the Cardinals — from 2005-23. He had two second-place finishes (2010, 2013) and two third-place finishes (2009, 2014) in National League Cy Young Award voting throughout his career.

"You don't get a lot of guys like that," Flaherty said. "He was just this special human being and an unbelievable pitchers as well. The way he treated everybody, the way he went about his business, the way he went about his work was so special. I tried to take little bits and pieces of that. ... The attention to detail that he had was second to none."

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Wainwright retired from his playing career after last season. He isn't expected to be at Comerica Park to watch the Cardinals and Tigers, which means Flaherty's mentor won't be trash talking during the game, but that doesn't mean the Cardinals are going to let him off the hook.

There will be extra emotion — and extra chatter — when Flaherty takes the mound for Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader.

"I'll hear the starters, 100%," Flaherty said. "I know I'm going to hear Miles. It'll be a little different, Waino's not over there, but I know I'll hear Miles. He'll be loud. He'll be talking. Those are the guys that do most of the chatter over there."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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Next up: Cardinals

Matchup: Tigers (16-12) vs. St. Louis (13-15), straight doubleheader.

First pitch: Game 1, 3:40 p.m. Tuesday; Game 2, 40 minutes after Game 1 ends; Comerica Park, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Probable pitchers: Game 1, Tigers — RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.91 ERA); Cardinals — TBD. Game 2, Tigers — TBD; Cardinals — RHP Kyle Gibson (2-2, 4.36).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Jack Flaherty faces St. Louis Cardinals for first time