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Jack Flaherty put on a show, striking out seven consecutive Phillies with ease and a nasty changeup

Spring Training is a time for players to fine-tune their skills, work out some kinks in their mechanics and get fully ready for the season ahead. Shake off the rust of the offseason, get in "game shape," all the other platitudes you expect to read about.

Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty definitely appears to be ready for 2019. How do we know this? Well, in his game against the Phillies on Tuesday afternoon, he struck out seven consecutive hitters ... and he made it look simple.

Look at this pitch:

Sorry, Andrew McCutchen. Also sorry, Maikel Franco.

This changeup is unfair.

If you were wondering if seven consecutive strikeouts in a Spring Training game is rare, it hadn't happened for the Cardinals in five years:

That's a formidable feat of pitching filth that you don't see often. But the Cardinals pitching staff wasn't done showing off on Tuesday.

Flame-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks took the mound after Flaherty and hit 103 on the radar gun ... among several more 100-mph+ pitches, en route to a four-strikeout inning.

Good luck, anybody facing these two this season.

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