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St. Louis Cardinals promote Jack Flaherty to Triple-A Memphis

By Patrick Karraker

Feb 20, 2017; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jack Flaherty (92) poses during spring training media day at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2017; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jack Flaherty (92) poses during spring training media day at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jack Flaherty is now just one step away from reaching the major leagues.

The St. Louis Cardinals finally made a move that has seemed inevitable for the past month on Thursday, promoting righthanded starting pitcher Jack Flaherty from Double-A Springfield to Triple-A Memphis. The 21-year-old Flaherty, a first-round pick in 2014, has been absolutely unhittable at Springfield this season, posting a 1.42 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 62 strikeouts and 11 walks over his first 63 1/3 Double-A innings.

Flaherty hasn’t really struggled at any minor-league level, but this will be the first time he’s ever received an in-season promotion. He pitched in rookie ball after signing with the Cardinals in the summer of 2014, then moved up to Low-A Peoria in 2015 before ascending to High-A Palm Beach last year. Flaherty will now fill the void that was left in the Redbirds’ rotation when John Gant was promoted to the majors to serve as the Cardinals’ long reliever earlier this week.

He’s scheduled to make his Triple-A debut on Friday night against the Omaha Storm Chasers. He’ll join a Memphis rotation that also features top prospects Luke Weaver and Marco Gonzales as well as 40-man roster member Mike Mayers and big-league veteran Josh Zeid.

The Cardinals haven’t been hesitant about promoting strong performers from Springfield to Memphis in years past because of the close proximity between the two locations. However, the flip side of that is that Flaherty doesn’t necessarily have a lot of security in Triple-A if Gant ultimately is sent back down.

Next: Time for Cardinals to call up Marco Gonzales

If he continues to thrive in Memphis, however, Flaherty could be the fourth former first-rounder in five seasons to skyrocket through the Cardinals’ system and arrive in St. Louis sooner than expected. Michael Wacha, Gonzales, and Weaver have forced the acceleration of their respective development timelines in recent years. With that said, Gonzales and Weaver are both currently dominating in Triple-A, so they’d probably be ahead of Flaherty in the pecking order if a Cardinals starter went down.

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