Cardinals Holding Their Breath On Starter's Injury Concerns

Pitching injuries are so commonplace these days in baseball, that's it's no surprise when a pitcher misses a good chunk of a season. But when said pitcher returns to spring training the next season with a recurrence of one of those injuries, teams really start to hold their breath. 

St. Louis Cardinals' ace Jack Flaherty is undergoing "medical evaluation on his right shoulder" to determine the cause of soreness, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Jack Flaherty missed Day 2 of camp and went for further medical evaluation on his right shoulder. A team official confirmed the review, said it would have an update once their physicians have it completed and can create a plan of action. #stlcards

— Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) March 15, 2022

Flaherty developed a right shoulder strain injury in August of last season, just a few weeks after returning from a lengthy absence due to an oblique injury. He was limited to just 78.1 innings on the entire season. 

The 26-year-old quickly rose to 'ace' status with the Cardinals when he arrived full-time in the bigs in 2018 at the age of 22. After finishing 5th in Rookie of the Year voting, he went on to post a stunning 2.75 ERA in 2019, with a major league- leading 0.97 WHIP. 

Overall, in his 4+ seasons with the Cards, he has a 3.34 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 10.5 K/9. The Cards can ill-afford to be without the ace of their staff in 2022. 

Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports