Flaherty moves to Cards' pen: 'Fluid situation'

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals have preached both fluidity and patience with Jack Flaherty in their hopes for him before the end of the regular season. The plan -- both publicly and internally -- has been to keep Flaherty within his preparation as a starter, though doing so while tepidly building up his pitch count. He would get his feel back for a few innings without the runway to a full starter’s load before the postseason begins.

But on Tuesday, manager Mike Shildt revealed that Flaherty has been moved to the bullpen for the series opener against the Brewers, a game in which the Cardinals can punch their ticket to the postseason. It’s not clear how long Flaherty will spend in the ’pen, but Shildt said that “it’s not on our radar” for him to make a start before Sunday’s regular-season finale.

Any relief appearance this week would be only the second of Flaherty’s career.

“Jack’s in a very fluid situation,” Shildt said. “Right now, we want to use him in a situation that is not necessarily high-leverage because the game could dictate it otherwise, the moving parts could dictate it. But right now, Jack's free to pitch and able to compete and wants to. Biggest thing for Jack is getting some touches on the mound, so we’ll evaluate it. It’s a fluid situation.”

Flaherty was activated off the injured list on Friday and started the nightcap of the doubleheader at Wrigley Field but only threw 19 pitches in his first game action in a month. That was a planned short outing, and he has reportedly recovered well, but the original hope was to keep him on a typical starter’s track as to not throw off his routine.

Pitching behind Flaherty on Friday was Dakota Hudson, who tossed 3 2/3 innings in his first game action in a year after Tommy John surgery. The Cardinals have also stressed fluidity and the tempering of expectations for Hudson, but he is built up further than Flaherty is.

To that end, Hudson took batting practice on the field with the starting pitchers prior to Tuesday’s tilt. Shildt, however, did not commit to Hudson making a start before the end of the regular season.

For both hurlers, the Cardinals' primary focus has been to get them fully healthy and competitively ready for the postseason. The pair appear to be on track toward that -- fluid as it may be. And based on their pedigree, the expectation is that they can find success no matter what their role on paper is.

“The biggest thing about guys that are capable of pitching is they can pitch anywhere, and I believe that to be true,” Shildt said. “But let's also temper about Jack, and to some degree Dak as well -- they're coming off injury. I know that the name dictates, ‘Hey, we want to be this and this,’ but let's make sure they're healthy and getting work off the mound and [are] taken care of. That's our primary responsibility with those two.”

Worth noting
• Jon Lester, who was paid a visit on the mound from the training staff during his start on Saturday, said that he’s feeling good and plans to take the ball whenever he’s next handed it. Based on his five-day schedule -- which the Cardinals have both him and Adam Wainwright on -- that would have him lined up for Thursday’s series finale, but that start has instead been given to J.A. Happ.