(Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck: USA Today Sports)

Despite an awful start to the 2024 season, the St Louis Cardinals have made a comeback in a big way. They are now four games above .500 and have taken control of the second NL Wild Card spot.

It’s an unlikely turnaround given that half the MLB in all major statistics both offensive and in pitching.

Jack Flaherty is in the middle of a resurgent season. Everyone that saw Flaherty pitch in 2019 witnessed a burgeoning phenom on his road to becoming an undisputed ace. The Cardinals had developed him strongly, and made sure not to rush him to the big leagues. But since he had a 2.75 ERA five years ago, Flaherty has been mostly overlooked by opponents and pundits. A plethora of injuries hampered Flaherty who had pitched largely to mixed success since amassing a strong amount of Cy Young and MVP votes in 2019.

This year, the struggling Detroit Tigers took a risk on Flaherty and it has paid off tremendously.

So far in 2024, he owns a 3.13 ERA with 119 Ks through 95 innings of work. His 11.27 K/9 rate stands as the sixth highest in the MLB and the highest of his career while his 1.52 BB/9 is the sixth lowest in the MLB and the lowest of his career. The run values on his pitches have also vastly improved since recent years. 

Despite Detroit already slipping out of playoff contention, Flaherty continues to dominate, and could provide a major spark a team in playoff contention.

If the Cardinals decide acquire Flaherty, they will have assembled a lights out one-two punch with him and new ace Sonny Gray. Add him into the mix with a slew of reliable veterans such as Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Miles Mikolas, and suddenly, the Cardinals have themselves an extremely dangerous rotation.