Tigers Sign Jack Flaherty: What to Make of Move

The Tigers made one move for a starter earlier in the offseason. But on December 14, the Tigers added a second starter to their 2024 rotation in Jack Flaherty. The 29-year-old reportedly signed a one-year deal to go to Detroit in 2024 and join a young rotation. Here’s a closer look at Flaherty’s 2023 season.

A Look at Flaherty

It’s hard to believe that Jack Flaherty struck out 231 batters over 196.1 IP in 2019, in what was a career season for the righty. After that year, though, injuries began to pile up.

Flaherty made just 26 appearances between 2021-22, but he found a groove in 2023 after what was a rocky start in St. Louis. The 28-year-old owned an ERA of 6.18 on May 9 but pitched much better after that. Flaherty owned a 3.45 ERA (3.41 FIP) and struck out 67 over his final 70.1 IP as a Cardinal.

The Orioles acquired Flaherty to beef up their rotation for a playoff run in the summer, but the move didn’t work well for either side. Flaherty got rocked in nine outings despite striking out 42 over 34.2 IP and didn’t start a game for Baltimore in the ALDS.

Part of it was luck, as there were balls hit by opposing teams that weren’t hit particularly great but still got through. However, he did make too many mistakes with his breaking ball and cutter and got burned. Flaherty gave up seven home runs and 26 earned runs over 34.2 IP (6.75 ERA) as a member of the O’s.

But even though his time with the O’s wasn’t positive statistically, there were some to be had. Namely, Flaherty was able to gain at least confidence with the fastball — and velocity, as well. His average sat below 93 for much of the year but jumped late and sat at 93.8 MPH come September. He also netted more whiffs on it as an Oriole.

Aside from renewed velocity on a four-seam fastball that Flaherty gets good extension on, the 28-year-old can stymie hitters with a diverse arsenal that includes a cutter that he mainly uses against lefties, as well as a sinker, curveball, slider, and changeup.

His curveball is arguably his ace in the hole. It’s a pitch that when he has a feel for it will drop down like a rock and get hitters to swing over it.

Jack Flaherty whiff map 2023 — Unsurprisingly, a plurality of whiffs came down and out of the zone, right where he wanted to spot with the curveball.

Per ESPN, the Tigers will add Flaherty on a one-year deal worth $14MM. It reportedly has bonuses that could raise it to $15MM.

Analysis

This is the second notable addition to the rotation that the Tigers have made to this point. Earlier in the offseason, Detroit signed veteran Kenta Maeda to a multi-year deal.

Flaherty and Maeda are now poised to join a young Tigers rotation that last year received strong results from Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson, and a 3.58 ERA from Matt Manning despite some less-than-stellar underlying numbers. And, Detroit virtually replaces the veteran duo of Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Lorenzen, the latter of whom was traded last summer.

For the Tigers, this is a low-risk move despite the $14MM salary. It’s a one-year deal, as Detroit will hope that the 28-year-old can log innings in the back end of the rotation and look more like he did with the Cardinals this past year.