Jack Flaherty overcame his own wildness and a windchill temperature in the 30s to land his first victory of the season, a 4-1 win over the powerful Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday April 1.
Flaherty played a perfect April Fool’s Day prank on the Blue Jays, who had posted 19 hits in a 10-9 win over the Cardinals on Opening Day.
The Redbirds’ starter walked seven batters in just five innings but did not surrender a run. While the 96 pitches he threw during the outing is too many, he registered a key double play or strikeout when most needed.
You won’t see many pitching lines like this during the 2023 Major League Baseball season: Five innings, 0 hits, seven walks, four strikeouts, and one hit batter.
Flaherty sat down Toronto in order just once, the fifth and final inning he pitched. The seven walks are the most he has recorded in any of his starts for St. Louis.
Through the up-and-down performance, Flaherty remained calm and didn’t display the frustration that has sometimes accompanied him to the pitcher’s mound.
“Getting frustrated is not going to do anything for anybody, and that’s something that I’ve had to learn and figure out — getting frustrated and showing emotion is not going do anything for me or the team, but it’s going do something for the hitter,” Flaherty told reporters following the game.”
“It’s about finding some peace and being able to execute.”
As for his performance, Flaherty said throwing that many pitches in that few innings is not sustainable if he is to regain the form that made him one of baseball’s most feared young pitchers just two seasons ago.
“That’s not something that’s going to work over the long run. But I was able to get away with it today by making pitches when I needed them. I made pitches in decent spots, but it isn’t ideal,” he said.
Flaherty’s next start should come Easter Weekend at Milwaukee or during the following series at Colorado.
The Reid Roundup
Along with St. Louis Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty, Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds. Josiah Gray of the Washington Nationals and Tristin McKenzie of the Cleveland Indians are MLB’s leading African American starting pitchers. Greene was awful in his Opening Day start, surrendering five hits and three runs in just 3.1 innings. The Pirates beat the Cubs 5-4. Gray was worse in his start against the Atlanta Braves. He was pounded for three home runs and five runs in total in just five innings. The Braves won 7-1. McKenzie began the season on the injured list with a muscle strain in his pitching arm. It could be May before he pitches…South Carolina coach Dawn Staley congratulated Iowa for its upset win over the No. 1 and undefeated Gamecocks last Friday in a NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinal. Then she sounded very much like the late John Thompson defending the play of his 1980s Georgetown Hoyas. “We’re not bar fighters. We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters,” Staley said. “This team exemplifies how you need to approach basketball on the court and off the court. And I do think that that’s sometimes brought into the game, and it hurts. Don’t judge us by the color of our skin. Judge us by how we approach the game.”…Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson announced on social media last week that he had requested a trade from the team on March 2. Jackson wants a fully guaranteed contract like Deshaun Watson’s $50 million annual salary in Cleveland. The Ravens placed the unrestricted franchise tag on Jackson, meaning he can negotiate with other teams and the Ravens could match the offer. The Ravens have not interest in paying the often-injury Jackson that kind of dough. The only team rumored to be interested in Jackson via a trade is the Indianapolis Colts…While Max Verstappen won the crash-marred Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, there was good news for Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes Formula 1 team. Lewis and teammate George Russell qualified second and third, respectively, behind Verstappen. Hamilton finished second behind the pole sitter and Russell was poised to battle for a place on the podium until his engine malfunctioned.
