The Peoria Chiefs (A) opened their 2o15 season this evening with Jack Flaherty, the St. Louis Cardinals second first-round pick (34th overall) of last season taking the mound. The outing for the 19-year old was cut short though…
After warming up to start the 4th, Flaherty calls out trainer and leaves the game. 3ip, 2h, 1r, 3bb, 3k, 54 pitches/29 strikes
— Peoria Chiefs Game (@PeoChiefsGame) April 10, 2015
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In an early bullpen session this spring, Flaherty looked to be his own toughest critic and was quickly reminded of the positives of his session by the coaching staff. That trait was brought up earlier this afternoon in a conversation with Gary LaRocque, the Director of Player Development for the St. Louis Cardinals.
“He’s an extremely competitive pitcher, which is a wonderful trait” said LaRocque. “I think he’s ready, he’s had a good month of March. He’s gotten the appropriate amount of innings in. His stuff plays well–from a standpoint of pure stuff, we see right away that he does have the ability to command his fastball a little bit better than most 19-year olds.
“He’ll need that in the Midwest League, yet it will still be a challenge and we’re going to need patience. And he’s gonna need some time, but no better way of finding out what it’s like than to challenge a player at a level and we believe Jack’s going to do fine.”
Flaherty went 1-1 in eight games (six starts) for the Cardinals Gulf Coast League affiliate last year. He struck out 28 batters in 22.2 innings pitched with opponents hitting .209 against him.
