After a second bout of shoulder troubles, Jack Flaherty is preparing to return to the St. Louis Cardinals rotation on September 5, when the team plays host to the Washington Nationals.
Flaherty has been out since late June after he left a start against the Chicago Cubs after just two innings.
But his rehab assignment has gone according to plan.
On Twitter, the MLB Players Tribune shared a video in which Flaherty detailed his routine for pitching.
Flaherty says that he likes to try and shut off his brain while he pitches, which is consistent with a common hashtag he often puts in the captions of his Instagram posts.
On Monday, Jack Flaherty is expected to rejoin the @Cardinals rotation.
When he does, he'll turn off his brain.@Jack9Flaherty | #STLCards pic.twitter.com/TuI71f9Grx
— MLB Players Media (@MLBPlayersMedia) August 30, 2022
Flaherty’s Preparation Method
This is how Flaherty prepares.
His way of staying focused on the task at hand is completely shutting off his brain while he pitches.
At the end of many of his Instagram posts, he puts a hashtag with the words “Don’t Think” as a reminder for him to shut off his brain when he takes the mound.
Flaherty says that when he’s pitching, he likes to keep it simple and have it be just him in that moment.
“Once I step onto the mound and I get to that point, everything else is taken care of,” said Flaherty.
Flaherty attributes that to a “competitive will” and a feeling of confidence that everything will ultimately work itself out.
He’ll finally have a chance to go out and put his technique to the test when he returns on Labor Day.
If he can pitch like his 2019 self, then the Cardinals rotation is about to get a lot stronger.
Flaherty is ready to go, and you can bet that he’ll do everything in his power to shut his brain off while pitching.
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