Flaherty struck out nine over four scoreless frames in Tuesday's Grapefruit League start against the Phillies. He gave up two hits and issued no walks in the outing.
Flaherty showcased ace-like stuff in his second outing of the spring, retiring seven straight Phillies via strikeout at one point during the start. When he wasn't whiffing hitters, he was inducing weak contact, with a pair of singles from Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto representing the only damage against Flaherty. Though the Cardinals have already decided to go with Miles Mikolas as their Opening Day starter, Flaherty's showing Tuesday might have helped him to clinch the No. 2 spot in the rotation to begin the season.