Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty hasn’t had as good of a season as he probably would’ve hoped. Flaherty can opt out of his current deal after this season, but there hasn’t been any indication of whether he will choose to do so or not.
Should he opt-out, Flaherty should remain one of the better starting pitchers available on the open market giving his track record of success. This season, he’s pitching to a 4.60 ERA in 30 starts with an 8-14 record, a drastic fall-off from last season, when he arrived in Detroit at the trade deadline and pitched to a 2.95 ERA with a 7-5 record in 18 starts.
Flaherty remains a top starting pitcher on the market despite lowly numbers
With the season winding down, Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Mintz ranked Flaherty among the top 25 free agents available — if he opts out of his current deal.
“He’s relatively young, which should help him, but he flat-out hasn’t been very good this season,” Mintz said. “Every smart team will think they can fix him, but it’s not like the Tigers are a bunch of dunderheads when it comes to pitching development. Flaherty remains a supremely frustrating character, one who flashes brilliance but lacks consistency.”
For now, Flaherty and the Tigers will try to avoid a historic September collapse in the AL Central. After holding as much as a 9.5 game lead over the Cleveland Guardians less than two weeks ago, that lead has shrunk down to just one game with only a handful of games remaining.
