World Series: Dodgers' Jack Flaherty almost joined the Yankees. Now he'll start against them in Game 1.
Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty (0) delivers the pitch in the first inning during Game 1 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, 2024. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
LOS ANGELES — In a twist of fate befitting the stage, the Yankees’ first opponent in the World Series will be a pitcher they tried to acquire over the summer: Jack Flaherty.
The Dodgers will roll with Flaherty, a righthander, in Game 1 on Friday at Dodger Stadium. He’ll take the mound opposite Gerrit Cole.
In a slightly different version of events, though, it could have been Flaherty in the visitors’ dugout after months of wearing pinstripes. The Yankees pursued him prior to the trade deadline, with general manager Brian Cashman engaging the Tigers “all the way to the end,” he said then.
Instead, the Dodgers landed Flaherty from Detroit (for two players, including coincidentally shortstop Trey Sweeney, a former Yankees first-round draft pick).
It all worked out for Flaherty, a Los Angeles native who suited up for his childhood team. But...
“Things turned out the way that it did. We’re here, we’re with LA,” Flaherty said Tuesday during a video news conference from Dodger Stadium. “It’s crazy to think I could’ve been on the other side of this. But I’m happy for the situation that I’m in and being a part of this team and the guys that we have, the run we’ve been able to go on and what we still have going forward.”
The Yankees nixed a potential Flaherty deal in July because of concerns over his lower back, according to a report at the time from The Athletic. Cashman declined to comment on that aspect of it, saying only that the Yankees and the Tigers “had difficulty matching up” on what Flaherty was worth in a trade.
Cashman wound up not bolstering the Yankees’ rotation at all
“Jack Flaherty is an exceptional starter,” Cashman said July 31. “I certainly would’ve loved to have him as a choice for us as well as anybody else who would potentially be an upgrade on our rotation. All I can speak to is that — unfortunately, you get a lot of different reports going out there. At the end of the day, I would’ve brought Jack Flaherty in if I could’ve matched up and I had difficult matching up. That was the reason I don’t have him. Simple as that.”
Flaherty became an important piece for the Dodgers’ injury-ravaged pitching staff, posting a 3.58 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 10 starts — not as effective as he had been with the Tigers, but still solid.
He provided an uneven performance in the National League Championship Series against the Mets. In Game 1, Flaherty spun a gem, seven scoreless innings. In Game 5, they smoked him for eight runs in three innings. His velocity was down across the board for reasons he described as since-fixed; manager Dave Roberts mentioned after the game that Flaherty was under the weather.
“Multiple times, I was one pitch away from getting out of it,” Flaherty said of a five-run third inning that doomed Los Angeles for the day. “The game sped up on me in that inning . . . It was right there.”
Righthander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a major target of the Yankees last offseason, will start Game 2 on Saturday, Roberts said. That lines Flaherty and Yamamoto up to return in Game 5 and Game 6, respectively.
Walker Buehler also is available. And the Dodgers will have to mix in a relievers-only bullpen game along the way.
The key against the Yankees, Flaherty said, is to “treat every hitter the same,” even if Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton seem scariest.
“They have some guys who have been studs for a really long time,” he said. “They’re really damn good. There’s not much more to it than that. It’s just going to be an incredible matchup.”
Freddie on the mend
Heading into Game 1, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman will have had six consecutive days off, a stretch he called “very valuable” as he tries to play through a right ankle sprain sustained in late September.
He missed two NLCS games, including the decisive Game 6, but said he intends to play in the Fall Classic opener. The Dodgers expect his status to continue to fluctuate.
In his current state, he requires four hours of treatment per day to get ready to play. The goal, he said, is to “get this thing as calmed down as I possibly can.”
“Every day that I can get off my feet and not running and just treating this is huge,” Freeman said Tuesday. “With all injuries, time and treatment, and time away from the initial injury ,is always going to be better. We’re trying to get it to a spot where we’re ready to go on Friday.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
