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Detroit Tigers' Jack Flaherty finds elite version of fastball, slider by scrapping cutter
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- Detroit Tigers' Jack Flaherty finds elite version of fastball, slider by scrapping cutter
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch visited free-agent right-hander Jack Flaherty in Las Vegas. The recruitment visit from Hinch led to Flaherty signing a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers for the 2024 season.
The Tigers — led by president of baseball operations Scott Harris — wanted to sign Flaherty, so Hinch had to convince Flaherty to sign with the Tigers. To do that, Hinch explained how the Tigers could help Flaherty become an elite pitcher again .
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They talked about Flaherty's cutter.
"Well, it didn't work," Flaherty said of his cutter, which he threw 9.1% of the time in 2023. "I think it's made my slider and my fastball better by taking the cutter away. In 2019 and 2021, it was a lot of fastball, curveball, slider, and then we would throw the sinker and changeup every so often."
Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty pitches against the Red Sox during the first inning on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at Fenway Park.
The Tigers instructed Flaherty to remove his cutter from his pitch mix and reallocate the 9.1% to his fastball and slider. He ditched the cutter, then increased his slider usage from 24.6% to 31.1% and his fastball usage from 41.7% to 44.6% — a combined difference of 9.4%.
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Without the cutter, the whiff rate on his fastball has jumped from 20.8% to 27% and the whiff rate on his slider has skyrocketed from 26.5% to 41.5%.
He ranks third in MLB with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
"Everything has come out better," Flaherty said. "I think (the cutter) might have had an effect on my fastball last year in terms of throwing it, just in the way that my hand was coming through the ball on every pitch. I tried to get rid of it to stay behind the ball a little bit better."
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After scrapping the cutter, Flaherty's fastball and slider evolved into above-average pitches for the first time since the 2019 and 2021 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals . He posted a 2.75 ERA in 2019 and a 3.22 ERA in 2021.
Those were the best seasons of Flaherty's career before joining the Tigers. He had a 4.99 ERA with the Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles in 2023, using the cutter.
Manager A.J. Hinch of the Detroit Tigers visits starting pitcher Jack Flaherty during the sixth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, June 21, 2024.
In 2024, Flaherty owns a 2.92 ERA with 13 walks and 108 strikeouts across 83⅓ innings in 14 starts. He ranks in the 95th percentile in walk rate (4%), 95th percentile in strikeout rate (33.3%), 94th percentile in whiff rate (34.2%) and 76th percentile in chase rate (31.1%). His 2.71 expected ERA, calculated based on underlying metrics, ranks in the 92nd percentile.
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Flaherty is one of the most coveted pitchers on the trade market ahead of the July 30 deadline.
"I think Jack came pretty built to handle coaching, to handle the reality of where he was at," Hinch said. "Jack also came with a good foundation of talent. Early on in our relationship with Jack, as an organization, he was an open book. He asked a lot of questions, wanted a lot of feedback, could be coached hard and could be challenged. For him, a bunch of subtle adjustments have led to a giant leap forward from where he was last year. None of it is a surprise."
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Detroit Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty throws during the game against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park on April 14, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan.
Flaherty relies on three pitches: a fastball (44.6%), a slider (31.1%) and a curveball (18.7%). He also has a changeup (3.9%) for left-handed hitters, as well as a sinker (1.6%) for right-handed hitters that he likes to use in long at-bats and when he needs a ground ball.
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Still, Flaherty primarily throws fastball, slider and curveball.
"But those three pitches can become four or five pitches depending on where I'm throwing them," Flaherty said. "Slider on one side of the plate and slider on the other side of the plate. Fastball away versus fastball in. What may be one pitch can be two or three different pitches."
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Beyond pitch mix, Flaherty worked with pitching coach Chris Fetter and assistant pitching coach Robin Lund to change the way his body moved down the mound by activating his gluteal and hamstring muscles , rather than using his quadricep muscles.
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He tweaked the grip of his slider, too.
With the Tigers, Flaherty commands three great pitches in his fastball, slider and curveball. He doesn't throw his cutter anymore, which allows him to focus on the two pitches — fastball and slider — that have made him an elite pitcher again.
"My take on his arsenal is the quality of his pitches are so great," Hinch said. "It's important to use those more, more than it's anti-cutter. I think the curveball is really good, the slider is exceptional, the fastball is really good. It's hard to be elite at all of those pitches, and he is. The cutter was largely unnecessary."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers' Jack Flaherty finds elite fastball, slider by scrapping cutter
