Detroit — Everything went well for Jack Flaherty on Tuesday night in his rehab assignment at Double-A Erie, with maybe one minor exception.
“Those guys need to work on their ball knowledge a little bit,” Flaherty said with a smile Wednesday.
As Flaherty explained it, the fact Birmingham Rumble Ponies starter Bryce Conley had a perfect game going for three innings prompted a discussion in the Erie dugout about the MLB record for most strikeouts in a nine-inning game.
“They were trying to figure out the most punch-outs in a game,” he said. “They didn’t know the answer to that question. I was a little disappointed in that.”
Flaherty sat quietly until the fourth inning when he finally had to speak up.
“I said, you guys need to brush up on your ball knowledge,” he said. “They said they thought it was 21. I was like, no. It’s 20 and it’s been done like four or five times. Little disappointing.”
He was chuckling at the story but the significant part of the experience was that Flaherty, working back from a tendon strain on the outside of his ankle, is on track to return to the rotation, possibly as early as Sunday against the Astros.
“Last night went very well for Jack,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We got pretty much everything accomplished that we wanted to, meaning we got his pitch count high (83) and he got out for the sixth inning and he reported the he felt really good.”
Flaherty struck out seven and allowed two runs and three hits in 5.2 innings.
“It went pretty smooth in terms of stuff, the ball was coming out good,” Flaherty said. “Sometimes when you go through a period of not being on the mound as much and not pitching as much in a routine, things can get out of whack. But the execution was pretty good, in terms of getting ahead of the hitters and throwing strikes and doing all the little things you need to do.
“And I feel good today.”
Both Flaherty and Casey Mize would be on full rest Sunday, but Hinch indicated Flaherty, barring any setbacks, would be in line for Sunday. That would mean, at least for now, the Tigers would be deploying a six-man rotation.
“Six-man, seven-man, eight-man, every man,” Hinch joked. “We’re just trying to make decisions series by series. I know that sounds like I’m being a coach. But honestly, the last time I made an announcement about the rotation, something change in between.
“Not going to get me twice.”
Flaherty hadn’t been on any kind of minor-league rehab assignment since 2022. He isn’t likely to need another one.
“I didn’t anticipate (the injury) keeping me out very long,” he said. “If I needed to, I probably could’ve pushed through it. But we’ve got a lot of guys throwing the ball well right now, so it was good to let it heal, let it go away, instead of pushing through it and maybe having to deal with it the rest of the year. Or not.
“It was good we took the time to get it right.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Jack Flaherty on track to return to Tigers’ rotation Sunday
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
