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The Detroit Tigers defeated the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, 3-1. The series wraps up on Wednesday night before a day off for the Tigers as they travel back home. In Tuesday's win, there were concerns as starting pitcher Jack Flaherty had to leave the game early with an injury scare.
However, the right-hander gave an encouraging update after the game, per Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
“I'm sure I'll be good for the next one. It weirdly works out, but I got two extra days. I'm not going for another week with the two off days. We'll see how I wake up tomorrow, but I feel pretty good about it.”
Flaherty was dealing, throwing five scoreless innings on just 60 pitches. He gave up a pair of hits and no walks but was removed from the game early due to back tightness.
“It locked up as the game went along,” Flaherty said. “It's nothing that I'm too worried about. When it gets to locking up like that, and you can't quite finish as much, or you start questioning, should I keep going? It creeps in the back of your mind. I went as long as I could.”
Still, Flaherty says he should be good for his next start, and the extra rest should give him more than enough time to get back on track.
Tigers' Jack Flaherty opens up on early exit
Flaherty has a lot of innings logged in his career, and he opened up about having to leave the game early.
“I've pitched through a lot of things. For me to come out of the game, it's usually because I've been in a lot of pain. It was one of those things. You got to understand where the game is at and how you're feeling and where at a certain point it might just become detrimental. You just continue to make pitches until it doesn't feel right.”
Flaherty is in his first year with the Tigers after spending almost his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals before joining the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of the 2023 season via a blockbuster trade. With the Tigers, Flaherty has a 3-4 record with a 3.22 ERA in 12 starts.
In 2023, Flaherty struggled with the Cardinals, posting a 7-6 record with a 4.43 ERA before going 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA with the Orioles, so it's nice to see him getting back to form. However, with the Tigers at 31-30, there is a chance Flaherty's name pops up in trade discussions over the next month leading up to the MLB Trade Deadline.
The Tigers will finish the Rangers series on Wednesday before going home for a six-game homestand against the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals. All signs point to Flaherty making his next scheduled start.
