Jack Flaherty (SP, STL) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deeper Leagues

OWNED IN: 24% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Thanks to an Adam Wainwright injury, Flaherty will open the season as the Cardinals’ No. 5 starter and get a chance to show off his fastball, slider, curveball and just maybe the changeup. His brief stint in the Majors (at age 21) didn’t go so well (6.33 ERA, 1.55 WHIP), but he did strike out 20 in 21 ⅓ IP with a 13.1 percent swinging-strike rate. He would whiff roughly a batter per nine in the Minors and should be able to keep that up in the bigs as he refines his command against the highest competition. While I hope he pitches so well that St. Louis can’t help but keep him in the rotation, it would be wise to view this as a short-term, but fun, add.