Manager Marmol said the delay in right-hander's return is a "big picture" issue.
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Rick Hummel
Jack Flaherty won’t be making his next start for the Cardinals next weekend but instead is being targeted to face the Washington Nationals here on Labor Day, Sept. 5. In the interim, though, the Cardinals right-hander who is recovering from a right shoulder strain, will make a fifth and final minor league rehabilitation start for Memphis at Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday night.
Manager Oliver Marmol, who met with Flaherty before Sunday night’s game, said it worked out better for roster reasons and “big picture” purposes to postpone for a few days Flaherty’s exit from the 60-day injured list. Teams can add two players, one of them a pitcher, on Sept. 1, to give them 14 pitchers on a 28-player roster the rest of the season. If Flaherty pitched here on Wednesday, Aug. 31, another pitcher would have to be optioned for 15 days.
“If the question is, ‘Do I want Jack here pitching on Wednesday?’ The answer is yes,’” said Marmol. “I think he’s more than capable and ready to go. Does it help the ‘bigger picture’ if you look at the full month with a doubleheader with Cincinnati (on Sept. 17) coming up for it to line up in a way that’s favorable to us if he were to be slotted elsewhere (in the rotation)? Yes.
“So it’s the right move for everybody.”
Marmol said Flaherty was on board with the decision.
“He understood it,” said Marmol. “He’s a competitor and obviously wants to be up here as soon as possible. He understood how it impacted everything else. He was good about it. He was actually really good about it.”
When it was mentioned that Marmol had announced the extra rehab start, Flaherty, dressing at his locker said, dispassionately, “That’s great.” And then he went out to throw a scheduled bullpen session, declining further comment.