MLB Trade Rumors dropped the news Tuesday night: the Tigers have placed Jack Flaherty on the injured list, another gut punch for a Detroit staff that can't seem to keep its arms healthy at the same time.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news that Flaherty is headed to the IL.
This isn't even Flaherty's first trip to the injured list this year. He was already out earlier in the season with a left peroneal strain after slipping awkwardly on the mound against the Guardians, and this latest issue is reportedly flexor inflammation. Two separate IL stints in one season for a guy the Tigers are paying $20 million on his option is not the plan Detroit drew up.
The timing stings extra because this news broke right around Tarik Skubal's return from surgery — so as the Tigers get their ace back, they're simultaneously losing the guy who was supposed to be steadying the middle of the rotation behind him.
On the field, it hasn't exactly been a banner year for Flaherty anyway. He's posted a 4.60 ERA with 92 strikeouts over 17 starts, numbers that put him firmly in bounce-back-candidate territory rather than trade-deadline centerpiece territory. That's part of why his name has already been floated as a buy-low candidate ahead of the August 3 deadline.
There's precedent for a team gambling on Flaherty despite the rough surface numbers — the Dodgers did exactly that back in 2024, scooping him up for a stretch run that ended with a World Series ring. Whether any contender wants to make that same bet on an oft-injured arm this time around is a different question.
For now, the Tigers just have to wait and see how long this IL stint actually keeps him out. In a division race and with the deadline bearing down, every start he misses is a start Detroit has to patch over with something else — and fantasy managers who've been riding him for strikeouts are staring at another stretch on the shelf.