'A perfect outing': Flaherty dominant in return

KANSAS CITY -- Just like his windup, Jack Flaherty’s rehab was slow -- the Cardinals were cautious to make it so each pitch he returned to throw was with full force; it was deliberate -- because the Cardinals wanted to ensure their prized 25-year-old avoided all risk of reinjury; and it was purposeful -- the Cardinals put him through each phase mindful of both the ace’s long-term future and his hunger to compete.

And it was all for good reason.

Flaherty tossed 81 pitches -- each with the myopic purpose of getting outs -- across six shutout innings in Friday’s 6-0 series-opening win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium -- an energetic return to action, an emotional return to competition and a brisk return to form. In his first start since May 31 due to a left oblique injury, Flaherty flushed away the first lengthy absence of his career without pause: a broken-bat flare in the first inning and a hard-hit single in and out of Paul DeJong’s glove in the sixth resembled the only bases he relinquished on the night.

"It was a perfect outing for what we needed out of Jack,” said manager Mike Shildt. “He was fantastic, and we're glad he's back. … Everybody has a little more bounce in their step.”

That was wholly evident.

Energy manifested in the form of back-to-back home runs from Nolan Arenado and Tyler O’Neill after being no-hit by Royals starter Mike Minor for three-plus frames, not to be outdone by Lars Nootbaar’s second career home run 449 feet to right-center in the ninth … a day after he hit his first. Flaherty climbed to 8-1 before his injury due to both his acumen and the offensive support he enjoyed. That resynchronized on Friday.

By the time Yadier Molina caught an errant 76.2 mph knuckle curveball from Flaherty and then caught Jarrod Dyson stealing with a 82.8 mph throw to end the sixth -- and transitively end Flaherty’s evening -- the right-hander had faced just one over the minimum as his 74-day absence ended.

The most telling: When Flaherty’s teammates gave him a two-run lead, he gave them a six-pitch bottom of the fourth.

“It was impressive how sharp he was the first time back after that long off a Major League mound,” said Royals manager Mike Matheny, once Flaherty’s own skipper. “... It was all day. Our guys were taking some called strikes that were really well executed. … He was in control. He was efficient and didn’t give us much. He didn’t make many mistakes.”

Hitting the deck due to throws from Molina, saying those final words to himself into his hat before he races out to the mound, pantomiming his windup in the the left-field bullpen and executing his customary tip of the glove to Paul Goldschmidt at the start of every innings -- those are just some of what Flaherty has missed out on.

“I think competing with these guys, specifically,” he said. “Competing is one thing, but being able to look out and having Yadi put signs down. Before every hitter, I just reach over and kind of acknowledge Goldy, and seeing him over there and seeing those guys out there in the field, just a different feeling coming in the dugout, being a part of that, seeing my name in the lineup card and being able to compete with these guys. That was something I missed."

And the Cardinals missed winning.

Before Friday, Flaherty threw his last pitch for St. Louis on May 31. The club’s precipitous decline in June came in concert.

When Flaherty left the Cardinals, he led the Major Leagues in wins, two removed from tying a franchise mark set by Bob Gibson, the late Hall of Famer and one of his mentors. He was the owner of a 2.90 ERA, en route to an All-Star campaign that was putting behind him a shortened 2020 season that in part stunted in his rise up the Major League leaderboards.

Time is short on Flaherty’s chances for hardware by the end of the year, already missing out on the Midsummer Classic for no fault but of his left oblique. Given his path to date, such recognitions are superfluous.

But they also are, his teammates think, deserved whenever they arrive.

"One of the hardest workers I've ever seen, and someone that cares, you know, he cares a lot,” Arenado said. “He puts a lot on his shoulders. I mean, he wants to carry this team just like [Adam] Wainwright and Yadi do, and he's got the capability to do that."

“I think he’s got a chance to just be really elite and has a chance to do great things in this game. He'll be up for those Cy Young Awards throughout [his] career. But right now, obviously coming back from injury, we're just happy he's healthy, competing again, and he was locked in today. It's just great to have a guy like that back.”