Jack Flaherty (baseball) Jack Rafe Flaherty (born October 15, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2017. Early life and amateur career Flaherty attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California, with Ethan Katz as his pitching coach. He pitched and played shortstop and third base as a member of the varsity baseball team for all four of his years at Harvard-Westlake. He was a sophomore when two of his high school teammates and fellow pitchers, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, were both drafted in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft. In 2013, as a junior, Flaherty pitched a 13–0 record with a 0.63 ERA, striking out 112 batters in 89 innings while only walking 10. During his senior season, Harvard-Westlake was the consensus #1 team in the nation in the MaxPreps "XCellent 50" for much of the beginning of the season, before dropping out of the rankings altogether. On April 29, 2014, Flaherty pitched a complete game, 2–1 victory over Bishop Alemany High School to bring a two-year win–loss record to 20–0. In his last two seasons, his record was 23–0 overall. He finished the 2014 regular season with an 0.63 ERA and a 10–0 record on his way to being named Southern Section Division I Player of the Year along with the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year. He pitched 78 innings (IP), struck out 125 (SO) batters while giving up just 32 hits and 12 bases on balls (BB). In the first game of the playoffs – which was also the last game of his high school career – he threw a no-hitter against Riverside North. He was subsequently named the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year in baseball for the state of California. The Los Angeles Times selected him as their baseball player of the year. In his four years on the mound, his record was 35–3. Professional career Minor league career Although Flaherty signed a letter of intent to attend the University of North Carolina, he began his professional career after the Cardinals drafted him in the first round with the 34th overall selection of the 2014 MLB draft. It was a compensatory pick that the Cardinals gained when Carlos Beltrán signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent. Flaherty signed with the Cardinals on June 17 for a $2 million bonus and began his minor league career with the Cardinals of the Gulf Coast League, where he posted a 1.59 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched. In 2015 he played for the Peoria Chiefs where he was 9-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 18 starts. Prior to the 2016 season, Baseball America ranked him as the third-best prospect in the Cardinals' system. He spent the season with the Palm Beach Cardinals. In their updated 2016 mid-season ranking, Baseball America rated Flaherty in the top-100 for the first time, at 88th. In 24 games (23 starts) at Palm Beach, Flaherty was 5-9 with a 3.56 ERA. Flaherty began the 2017 season with the Springfield Cardinals, and after posting a 7–2 record with a 1.42 ERA in ten starts, he was promoted to the Memphis Redbirds, where he was 7-2 with a 2.74 ERA in 15 starts. Combined, Flaherty struck out 147 and walked 35 in 148 innings. St. Louis Cardinals (2017–present) 2017 On September 1, 2017, Flaherty was promoted to the majors to make his MLB debut against the