Flaherty, who is 4-0 with a 0.33 ERA over his first four starts in 2017, is drawing rave reviews in what is his first experience in Double-A ball, Max Gelman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "The thing that really stands out for Jack is he has shown at each level, he's been able to command his fastball, a real quality that he has that separates him from younger pitchers," Cardinals farm director Gary LaRocque said. "He works his fastball to both sides of the plate and he gets himself into a lot of quality innings."
The former No. 34 overall pick has followed up the career-high 134 innings he threw at High-A Palm Beach in 2016 with a near-perfect start to his first Double-A campaign, going at least six innings in each of his first four trips to the mound and allowing a single earned run overall in 27.1 innings. Besides being blessed with good health thus far, Flaherty's ability to consistently get ahead in counts and his above-average control have been pivotal to his success. The 21-year-old righty boasts a 24:3 K:BB, 0.66 WHIP and .161 BAA in addition to his aforementioned stellar won-loss record and ERA.