Jack Flaherty to start Game 1 of 2024 NLCS for Dodgers

It was Oct. 10, 2015. Mets at Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS. Seventh inning, Mets up a run in the game and a game in the series. Dodgers infielder Chase Utley slid hard into second base and upended Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada to break up a double play. Tejada fractured his fibula as the game-tying run came around to score. The game went to the Dodgers, the series went to the Mets and the sport was about to get a new rule, implemented a year later to protect infielders from dangerous slides. It’s known colloquially as The Chase Utley Rule.

Flaherty was in the stands that night for a Noah Syndergaard-Zack Greinke matchup that met the hype. Flaherty had been at Dodger Stadium the night before for Jacob deGrom-Clayton Kershaw, too. He was a few days shy of turning 20, back home in Los Angeles after spending his first full season of professional baseball at Class A Peoria in the Cardinals’ system.

Now Flaherty gets to pitch in these games. He’ll start Game 1 of the NL Championship Series for his hometown Dodgers on Sunday night, seeking to tame the Mets and his own emotions.

“I remember those playoff games. Those were a lot of fun,” Flaherty said. “I was just getting into pro ball but came with my little brother, who was like, ‘I’m going to be a Dodgers fan until you happen to make it [to the Majors], and then we can reassess from there.’

“He’s happy that he gets to cheer for these guys – for the Dodgers – again.”

The Dodgers are counting on Flaherty to deliver the sort of length and quality they got Friday from right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched five scoreless innings against the Padres with an extra tick or two on his fastball. Flaherty spent the night in the bullpen, prepared for emergency relief but hoping to get an NLCS Game 1 nod instead.

He’ll get it, and the Dodgers need him. Starters Tyler Glasnow (elbow), Clayton Kershaw (toe), Dustin May (right flexor tendon; esophagus) and Gavin Stone (shoulder) are out for the year and Walker Buehler was limited to 16 regular-season starts by a hip issue on top of the challenges of returning from a second Tommy John surgery. Tony Gonsolin, also coming back from Tommy John surgery, hasn’t pitched this season and is a question mark for the NLCS roster, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

So, the NLCS will open with Flaherty, who gave up four runs on five hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings of an NLDS Game 2 start that ended with a swinging strikeout against Manny Machado and some extremely choice words for the Padres’ third baseman.

“I think it was easy in the sense of when [Flaherty] was lined up, his start days and all that stuff, and I didn’t feel good about him pitching out of the ‘pen,” Roberts said. “We’re still talking about Game 2, Game 3, trying to figure out – we have a lot of good options, but right now anything’s on the table for Game 2.”

The Dodgers acquired Flaherty from the Tigers at the Trade Deadline with a Game 1 postseason start in mind. A free agent to be, he had a 2.95 ERA through 18 starts and was the top starting pitcher available. For L.A., Flaherty was 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 regular-season starts, with some shakier outings at the end (10 earned runs on 14 hits and nine walks in 14 innings over his final three starts) and some potentially concerning radar gun readings that the Dodgers have attributed to mechanics.

“He’s at the way high end of intensity, and he’s super focused and diligent about getting his work and his routine in,” said Dodgers center fielder-turned-shortstop Tommy Edman, a teammate of Flaherty’s with the Cardinals from 2019-23, before Flaherty signed with Detroit. “On game day, he really steps it up.

“I think it’s how diligent his preparation is, it prepares him for moments like these. He can rely on what he’s always done and bank on the fact he’s as prepared as he can be.”

Already deep in that preparation by Saturday afternoon, Flaherty was asked what he expects from the Mets.

“What they’ve been able to do in the second half, with their lineup, their pitching, their bullpen, it’s a good group, it’s a really good team, and it makes for a good series,” Flaherty said. “You’re expecting the best, but that’s … why we play 162. You can go through a little cold stretch maybe in the beginning and the guys start rolling, and for them it hasn’t stopped.”