Sept. 19—Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty should feel right at home Thursday afternoon.
Flaherty will face the host Miami Marlins in the deciding game of the three-game series.
The Marlins lost 8-4 on Wednesday and would like to use right-hander Edward Cabrera to help bounce back.
In two career starts at Miami, Flaherty (12-7, 3.04 ERA) is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. In 12 2/3 scoreless innings in those games, he allowed 10 hits, allowed six runs and struck out 11.
Overall, Flaherty went 2–2 with a 2.55 ERA in four games against the Marlins.
Flaherty, a first-round pick out of St. Louis in 2014, has pitched for four major league teams over the past two seasons: the Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles in 2023, and the Detroit Tigers and Dodgers this year.
His 12 wins this season are the highest of his career, and the Dodgers are 5-3 with Flaherty starting.
However, he suffered the worst start of his career with his new team. Flaherty gave up four runs on five hits in three innings in a 10-1 loss to the host Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Flaherty said after the game: “I was in the penalty area and didn’t really attack players and didn’t do the right little things. “When you look at it, four guys gone, I didn’t really get a lead when I came up in a good count and I couldn’t get guys out quick enough and they put together some good hitters.
“You just start with this one and get to the next one as quickly as you can. Just adjust, come in tomorrow and start preparing for the next one.”
Miami is 8-10 this year with starter Cabrera (4-7, 4.55 ERA), who has a good fastball and a nice changeup.
However, Cabrera walked a lot more batters – 4.4 per nine innings. That’s actually an improvement from his 6.0 rating in 2023.
In three career games against the Dodgers, including two starts, Cabrera is 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA. On May 7, he lost a four-run game to Max Muncy on a first-inning grand slam in Los Angeles, lasting only two innings.
Cabrera is having a great month. He pitched seven scoreless innings in a Sept. 8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and then suffered an unfortunate loss to the Nationals on Friday, when he gave up just one hit and two runs (both without getting anything for nothing) in six innings. In Washington, Cabrera struck out nine and walked one.
“It was the most impressive game of the season and (probably) his career,” Miami coach Skip Schumaker said. “A lot of first-pitch strikes, 80 percent (of the outs) were in the field, strikeouts, swings and errors. We didn’t play clean behind him. And honestly, he didn’t play clean himself (in terms of terminology), but there’s a lot to be proud of in terms of how he’s performed the last few starts and where he’s coming from at the end of the season.”
Cabrera expects to get support in the field and at the plate from rookie Connor Nobbe, a second baseman who has played third base for Miami since being acquired from the Orioles on July 30.
“It’s not easy to change positions in the major leagues,” Schumaker said. “Connor played a few games in the minor leagues, trying to learn how to play third base. Also, he had to hit, which isn’t easy for a young guy.”
Nobby has committed four turnovers in 22 games in his new position. His performance with the bat has been solid, with an OPS of .864 and 23 runs scored in 26 games with the Marlins.
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