The recent struggles of Mike Leake could provide an opportunity in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation for top prospect Jack Flaherty.
The St. Louis Cardinals were dealt a significant blow yesterday when it was revealed that reliever Trevor Rosenthal would undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his season. The club must push ahead, however, with a postseason berth still very much within reach. The promotion of a top pitching prospect could be one of St. Louis’ next moves.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Cardinals team official indicated that a call-up for 21-year-old right-hander Jack Flaherty is “in play.” The 2014 first-round draft pick is currently rated as the organization’s #3 prospect and #53 overall by MLB Pipeline. He’s the second-highest ranking Cardinals pitching prospect after Alex Reyes, who’s out for the year while recovering from his own Tommy John procedure.
Aside from his prospect pedigree, it’s not hard to see why St. Louis would be excited to bring Flaherty into the fold to see what he can do on the big league stage. He’s enjoyed a great season split between the two highest levels of the minor league system. Flaherty posted a 1.42 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 5.64 K/BB ratio over 63.1 innings (10 starts) at Double-A Springfield before being bumped up to Triple-A Memphis.
The advancement didn’t do much to slow Flaherty down. In 14 outings for Memphis, he has generated a 2.69 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 3.57 K/BB over 80.1 frames. It’s not a great leap to suggest he’s ready to try the next step in his professional development.
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To add further intrigue to the situation, the Cards could have a potential opening brewing in their rotation. Mike Leake has been awful of late, allowing 18 earned runs on 28 hits over 12.1 innings (13.14 ERA) in his last three starts. His season ERA has jumped from 3.29 to 4.16 in the month of August. It’s quite a sudden collapse for a pitcher who rather surprisingly carried a 2.24 ERA through his first 10 outings of the year.
The team hasn’t committed to starting Leake in his next scheduled turn through the rotation on Saturday against the Rays at Busch Stadium. Flaherty last pitched on Monday, meaning he’d be in line to take the mound again on Saturday. If the Cardinals indeed want to bring up Flaherty, it makes sense to pull the trigger this weekend.
As well as he’s performed in the minors this year, it would be unfair to expect Flaherty to tilt the Cards’ fortunes in the playoff race before he’s even made his MLB debut. But if he does get promoted and manages to hit the ground running, he could be an intriguing x-factor for St. Louis down the stretch. Goold’s front office source claimed that Flaherty’s 143.2 innings of work so far in 2017 wouldn’t be an impediment to him coming up to help the big league club.
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St. Louis is 4.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central and four games off the pace in the Wild Card hunt. Sometimes a small thing, like a late-season call-up, can a play big role in shaping a close playoff race. There’s no guarantee Flaherty will be a game-changer if he does join the Cardinals, but it’s a possibility worth keeping in mind. At the very least, he could provide a preview of what the club will hope to see in the years ahead.