Jack Flaherty

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports that Cardinals manager Mike Shildt has confirmed Jack Flaherty will be the team's Opening Day starter against Cincinnati.

Fantasy Impact

Not much of a surprise here, as Flaherty is the unquestioned ace of the Cardinals staff and was the Opening Day starter last season as well. Don't let last season's 4.91 ERA fool you, as Flaherty pitched to a much-more respectable 3.13 ERA when you remove one awful outing (9 ER against MIL). Flaherty is currently the SP #11 in FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings, but the 25-year-old's pedigree and track record suggest he could certainly outperform his current ADP.

Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty won his arbitration case against the team and will earn $3.9 million in 2021.

Fantasy Impact

St. Louis had filed at $3 million. Flaherty had one brutal start last summer that tanked his ERA. If you remove it, his ERA stands at 3.13 instead of 4.91. Fantasy players should continue treating him as a borderline SP1 in drafts this spring.

Jack Flaherty took the loss in Game 3 of the Wild Card Round on Friday when he gave up one run on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks across six innings in the Cardinals 4-0 loss to the Padres.

Fantasy Impact

Flaherty did an excellent job holding down the mighty Padres but the Cards offense just couldn't get anything going on offense. The right-hander scattered six hits and two walks over his quality start. A fifth inning Eric Hosmer double was the only run he gave up but that would prove to seal St' Louis' fate. The Cardinals season is done and the Padres will now face the Dodgers in NLDS.

Jack Flaherty allowed three earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five over five innings in the Cardinals 3-0 loss to the Brewers in Game One on Friday. Flaherty allowed a solo home run to Christian Yelich in the third inning and at least one Brewer reached base in every inning except the first. The Cardinals fell to 28-27 with the loss.

Fantasy Impact

Flaherty finishes the season 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA, 3.40 xFIP, 10.93 K/9 and 3.06 K/BB over 40 1/3 innings pitched this season. Owners who invested a high draft pick on Flaherty were likely disappointed by his output but besides his nine run blow up against the Brewers on September 15th he was solid. Enthusiasm for Flaherty in 2021 drafts might be hurt by his poor ERA so he could be a nice value pick in the early part of the middle rounds.

Jack Flaherty tossed six innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out 11 to record his second win of the season as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 2-1 on Sunday. Flaherty allowed a leadoff double to Bryan Reynolds in the fourth inning and the Pirates brought him around to score on a sacrifice fly later in the frame. Flaherty threw 102 pitches, 61 of them for strikes, and the Cardinals improved to 26-24 with the victory. They are now one game ahead of both the Reds and Brewers for Second Place in the NL Central in what figures to be one of the final week's most exciting playoff races.

Fantasy Impact

Flaherty had his first truly dominant start of the season on Sunday. He nearly doubled his previous season high in strikeouts from six to 11. It came on the heels of a disaster outing and showed fantasy owners that he can still be trusted as a fantasy ace. He has a 4.84 ERA across 35 1/3 innings pitched this season but his 3.27 xFIP indicates some bad luck contributing to his bloated ERA. Flaherty's BABIP, HR/FB% and LOB% are all worse than his career averages and if there were more time left in the season he'd be a good buy low candidate. He will face the Brewers on Friday in his final start of the season where he has a chance to redeem himself for his previous start.