How Jack Flaherty kept control of game without command of pitches to steady Cardinals win

ST. LOUIS — From his vantage point behind the plate, Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner spied pitching coach Dusty Blake‘s brand-new Nikes peek out over the top step of the dugout. Designed by Blake’s daughters in Cardinals colors and given to him as a gift for opening day, the fresh kicks are too slick to miss, but this wasn’t a fashion walk Blake was about to make.

Starter Jack Flaherty had just walked the bases loaded full of Blue Jays in the first inning Saturday at Busch Stadium. His fastball was misbehaving, and his pitch count was swelling. His start had barely begun before it threatened to come undone.

Knizner saw Blake perch those Nikes, primed for a mound visit.

What Blake saw sent him back to his seat.

Flaherty looked to the dugout and motioned slightly, assuredly with his glove. Blake saw no sign of panic. Manager Oliver Marmol told Blake that he wanted to “see how this goes.” Blake nodded and stepped down.

“There is some trust there,” Blake said. “There was a calm: ‘I know what I’ve got to do right here. I got it.’”

Flaherty did not need command of his pitches to remain in control of the game.

A line stained by a career-high seven walks was spotless elsewhere, as Flaherty found a way through five scoreless and hitless innings to protect the bullpen and send the Cardinals toward a 4-1 victory. The offense capitalized on an error in the third inning to take a lead. The Cardinals widened it on Nolan Gorman’s two-out, two-RBI single, and rookie Jordan Walker‘s RBI infield single. More walks ensued before Ryan Helsley secured a five-out save for the Cardinals’ first win of the 2023 season. It was also their first ever at Busch III in a game where they gifted 10 or more walks.

And it all could be traced back to the first inning, those new Nikes, and the visit to Flaherty on the mound they did not make.

“That game could have gotten real ugly in a heartbeat, and he didn’t allow it to,” Marmol said. “It’s one of those games where is it pretty? No. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. But do you appreciate it not snowballing and his ability to keep his cool and make an adjustment? Absolutely. You put that mentality alongside even his B-game — not even his A-game — and you’ve got seven innings without not a whole lot.”

Marmol said Flaherty had his “C-game.”

Flaherty suggested maybe Marmol was grading on a curve.

Because at times a breaking ball was all he had.

“I don’t know if that’s pitching,” Flaherty said. “Seven walks is not pitching.”

In his first start since finishing this past season in the bullpen, Flaherty (1-0) retired two batters on his first four pitches. Three of the four were strikes, and he got 0-2 on Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Then the turbulence started. Windchill temps at 36 degrees challenged all pitches and their grips. Flaherty’s fastball betrayed him. His mechanics hiccupped. Flaherty walked Guerrero, walked Daulton Varsho, and with two outs loaded the bases with a full-count walk to Matt Chapman. Blake did not visit. Knizner did, if for no other reason than to allow Flaherty to catch his breath.

“I think Kniz was trying to figure out what the hell we were going to throw,” Flaherty said. “I was wondering the same thing. But we knew what we could do to get out of that situation.”

“Let’s attack,” Knizner said.

As an inning threatens to swallow a pitcher, there are obvious responses. Some pitchers become stubborn, force-feeding hitters whatever they feel is their best pitch — and sometimes it even works. Some pitchers speed up, the game accelerating on them and hastening their troubles, too. Pitchers and catchers often talk about wanting to slow down innings, slow down their pace, and collect themselves. With the advent of pitch-timer baseball, good luck. The game’s goal is to speed up the pitcher. Into that tempest of choices, Flaherty made his.

He maintained his pace but downshifted his pitches. He dropped his arm angle to one he could repeat for reliable pitch movement.

“You take another second here and there, but you process things faster,” Flaherty said. “You find little things to reset, to lock it back in real quickly. Everyone is going to have to find a way to do it when things start spiraling. You walk three guys in a row. You walk two guys in a row another inning. You find a way. … I know that I can throw a fastball down and away when I want to. I know I can throw a slider when I want to. I know that still exists. If I’ve screwed it up a lot of times before, I know I’m due to hit six or seven.

“You always kick it into a different gear, but sometimes that gear looks a little different,” he said. “It’s picking it up with a little more velo — but that wasn’t what it was going to be today. It was, ‘We’re going to spin it, and we’re going to put the ball over the plate.’”

Toronto designated hitter Brandon Belt gave Flaherty an escape hatch, twice.

Belt, the former Giant who entered the game 1-for-8 in his career against Flaherty, struck out on a 90.6-mph fastball to leave the bases loaded in the first inning. In the third, Flaherty again walked consecutive batters, and again got Belt to strike out — this time on an 81-mph slider. At one point, Flaherty had as many walks (six) as outs (six). And through three innings, Toronto left seven runners on base; five belonged to Belt. Both strikeout pitches left Flaherty’s fingertips at a below-average speed. When he sailed a fastball up and in on Danny Jansen to lead off the second with a walk and then hit Cavan Biggio, Flaherty abandoned his fastball for a stretch. And got outs.

It wasn’t until his 91st pitch that he had thrown more strikes than balls, and still, Flaherty carried the no-hitter through his five innings.

Reliever Drew VerHagen kept it through the sixth. Toronto cracked it with one out in the seventh with Kevin Kiermaier’s sharp groundball single off Andre Pallante.

That came four innings after the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead. Chapman’s throwing error on Nolan Arenado‘s groundball in the third inning meant instead of a third out and a scoreless game, Brendan Donovan scored. Gorman followed with a single past a diving Chapman to punctuate the three-run third.

By then, Blake had no reason to leave his seat or give TV time to his special shoes and their victory blue highlights. Flaherty had found his footing — just improvised a style.

He retired nine of the final 10 Jays he faced.

“You can look at the line and be like groan,” Blake said. “I think, with him, he found a way to compete and make adjustments and throughout the game — instead of letting those adjustments get to him — he stayed centered and locked in, and he found a way to give us a chance. That’s all you want — a chance.”