It’s been a long time coming, but the St. Louis Cardinals are set to activate right-hander Jack Flaherty from the injured list.
Flaherty went 9-2 last season with a 3.22 ERA but was limited to just 17 starts due to oblique and shoulder injuries.
He had returned from his oblique ailment when his shoulder became a problem.
But now the Cardinals have their young stud back and ready to make an impact.
Lingering shoulder issues have kept him on the sidelines for the majority of this season.
Flaherty will start Wednesday and will be limited to 60 pitches, with reliever Andre Pallante backfilling.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the news on Twitter.
Flaherty, having successfully made the point he was ready to increase the intensity to a major-league level, will be limited to 60 pitches.
Pallante will backfill — and then possibly start this weekend at Fenway Park. #stlcards https://t.co/PhpE7qCTmf
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) June 14, 2022
Flaherty Returns
This is huge news for the Cardinals.
Flaherty turned into a front-line starter in 2019 with a stellar second half of the season, and even garnered some Cy Young votes.
He wasn’t the same in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but came back strong to start 2021 before injuries became a problem.
Tomorrow’s start will obviously be a limited one, but it’s better than nothing.
Flaherty has missed a good chunk of time.
But once he’s back to full strength, the Cardinals starting rotation should regain its place as one of the best in all of baseball.
He’ll slot in next to Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, and Miles Mikolas, all of whom are having terrific seasons thus far.
It also gives the Cardinals a little extra boost as they wait for news on Steven Matz, who is out with a shoulder impingement.
The Cardinals rotation is getting healthy at just the right time.
They now lead the NL Central and the return of Flaherty could give them a leg up on the Milwaukee Brewers.
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