by Megan Garcia and Cary Osborne
Eleven years after his crowning achievement as a high school pitcher, Jack Flaherty is pitching on the same mound at Dodger Stadium in one of the biggest games of his eight-year Major League career.
“I’ve had some conversations over the last couple days with some family and some people close to me, just kind of putting it all into perspective and how kind of surreal and just crazy of an opportunity it is — being from here, growing up here, coming to games here,” Flaherty said.
Again, it’s his team counting on him to give his team a lift.
Then, in 2013, it was pitching Harvard-Westlake to a CIF-Southern Section Division I championship at Dodger Stadium with a complete-game shutout.
The ask for the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series won’t be a complete game — but it will be for length and a shutdown of the Padres offense.
“He has to go out there and give us everything he has,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m not going to put a ceiling or a floor on innings or outs. I’m just going to let him go out there and let him pitch and compete and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Since joining the Dodgers from Detroit at the trade deadline, Flaherty has been a steady arm in the starting rotation. Flaherty led Dodger pitchers with 55 1/3 innings pitched since Aug. 3 in his first start for his hometown team.
In 22 of his 28 starts this year, Flaherty pitched into the sixth inning — seven being with the Dodgers.
That dependability became a big reason why the Dodgers traded for him. The trade proved to be an absolute need now with Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone — the Dodgers’ leaders in starts and innings this year — and Clayton Kershaw going down with season-ending injuries.
“It was massive,” said Brandon Gomes, Dodger executive vice president and general manager of the trade. “I think that’s part of the deadline where we certainly would be in a far different position had we not done that. And it’s a win-win for both teams where we certainly had an acute need, and he’s going to be a huge part of our October run.”
Flaherty was initially named the Game 1 starter in the National League Division Series, but as the Dodgers weighed their options, Flaherty flipped with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Now, if the NLDS goes five games, both would be on the table for a start or pitch innings in the game.
The 28-year-old right-hander last appeared in the postseason in 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched two innings out of the bullpen in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
But he started four games for the St. Louis Cardinals on their 2019 and 2020 postseason teams — including two starts where he went six innings and allowed one run.
He last pitched against the Padres on Sept. 25. He went five innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, striking out five and walking four batters. He threw 100 pitches, landing 59 strikes.
He allowed 10 earned runs over 14 innings over his last three regular season starts. The Dodgers identified something off in his delivery. Something both he and the team are confident has been cleaned up.
Just in time for an opportunity to create another special postseason memory at Dodger Stadium.
“You want to get it done for your hometown team,” Flaherty said. “Anytime you get a chance to go out and you get a chance to compete in the playoffs and you have a chance to get a ring, you want to get it done.”
Jack Flaherty is ready to get it done for his hometown team was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.