I am sure the citizens of Birdland aren’t all that happy with Orioles GM Mike Elias right about now.
They see a team that is playing at a very high level and has an honest-to-God’s chance at making a deep playoff run. They saw Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery end up with Texas. They saw Justin Verlander end up back with Houston. All the while, Birdland really wanted two others — Dylan Cease (Chicago White Sox) and Eduardo Rodríguez (Detroit).
We saw Aaron Civale go from Cleveland to Tampa Bay. We even saw Rich Hill escape Pittsburgh for San Diego and Michael Lorenzen go from Detroit to Philadelphia. The clock ticked. Would the Orioles be able to land Cease, who has two-plus years of club control? Or would they bring back ex-Oriole farmhand Rodríguez?
As the clock ticked furiously, fans were getting furious. Nothing yet at 4:30 p.m., nothing yet at 5 p.m., but suddenly, as the clock ticked toward 6 p.m., the O’s had their man in former St. Louis Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty.
Flaherty hasn’t been in the headlines much of late. His 2023 season, while evolving nicely, doesn’t knock your drawers off (4.43 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP). But let’s look closer at a few other numbers and also offer some context to his current season.
Flaherty has made 20 starts, a good sign since he has battled so many different health issues starting in 2020. In 109.2 innings, Flaherty has struck out 106 batters. That shows me he still has a live arm.
Look, this a pitcher who isn’t locked up to a long-term deal despite having thrown 196.1 innings in 2019 to the tune of a 2.75 ERA and 0.97 WHIP while striking out 231 batters. He must have had his share of physical challenges.
To wit, Flaherty has time and again had to battle through shoulder issues, including twice in 2022. This year he had to rise above a hand issue in early May and a hip issue in late June.
But, let’s look more closely at this current season. I always do this when I do a deep dive into questionable overall results. I see three games that are absolutely awful:
| Date | Opponent | Innings | Hits | Runs | Strikeouts | Walks |
| May 4 | Angels | 2.1 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| June 13 | Giants | 4.1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| June 19 | Nationals | 6.1 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Here’s the good news: After those last two games, he has bounced back with five consecutive positive outings — 29.2 innings, 3.03 ERA and 26 strikeouts. To be fair, his WHIP in these July starts was still an unimpressive 1.41.
The context I wanted to add is this is Flaherty’s first season without future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina. Instead of throwing to one of the greatest defensive backstops of all time, Flaherty was working with a catcher whose own manager was questioning his ability to play the position.
Manager Oliver Marmol demoted his new free-agent catcher Willson Contreras, briefly moving him to the outfield. The timing of that unlikely controversy in St. Louis was in the middle of May, not long after that disastrous 10-run outing by Flaherty.
As I look at this trade, I see Flaherty as a much younger version of Matt Harvey. We can argue whether or not that was a worthwhile enterprise — trying to resurrect a once-great pitcher from the scrap heap — but I saw times during Harvey’s time in orange and black that he looked almost good enough to be a solid major league starter.
But this isn’t about Harvey now. The stakes are much higher. I am betting on Flaherty forming a tight relationship with pitching coach Chris Holt. Holt and the Orioles have two months to really dig in and try to get Flaherty fully straightened out.
Flaherty is 27 years old. He is coming to a town that is all about baseball and the Birds right now. If his performance is what I think it can be the for rest of the season, maybe the Orioles will have a leg up on signing Flaherty this offseason to a two-year deal with an option.
Look back to just a couple of short weeks ago when Elias gave up lefty Easton Lucas (acquired from Miami for Jonathan Villar) to acquire right-handed reliever Shintaro Fujinami. What was your reaction to that news? How about now after watching him throw five times with the Orioles? It’s not always easy to eat your words.
I am saying the same thing about this pickup. Those against it will eat their words.
To me, I see Mike Elias as having pulled another rabbit out of his hat.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox