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St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty left his start Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers (DET-STL GameTracker) after just two innings with what was later announced as a shoulder twitch.
No less worryingly, Flaherty showed reduced speed before being lifted. His fastball had fallen a few ticks earlier, and before leaving the game, he wasn’t even cracking at 90 mph with his fastball:
Flaherty left the game after giving homers to Robbie Grossman and Miguel Cabrera. In those two innings, Flaherty allowed four runs on four hits and walked three on a single strikeout. During the season, he now has a 3.08 ERA in 14 starts and 76 innings.
Flaherty was not back off the injured list for long after missing two and a half months with an oblique injury. On his first two starts he appeared to be in vintage form, but things got worse on his third start since activating.
Losing the 25-year-old right-hander for another stretch would hurt the Cardinals’ playoff hopes. They entered the 4 1/2 game Tuesday slate in the NL’s second-place wild card, and the SportsLine projection system gave them just a 10.6 percent chance of making the playoffs. With Flaherty’s status uncertain, those odds should probably be even lower now.
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