World Series Champion's Inconsistency Looms Large Over Tigers' Hot Start

The Detroit Tigers have had an amazing start to the year, but one of their starting pitchers' inconsistency has not been great for the team.

May 10, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (9) pitches in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Consistency is key in most things, and MLB is no different. The Detroit Tigers have played a strong first quarter of the season, entering Sunday with a Major League-leading 26 wins, and they will need to be consistent the rest of the way to hold onto their lead in the American League Central.

It will be tough for them every fifth day, however, as one of their starting pitchers, and a key offseason acquisition, has failed to be consistently successful for the majority of his career.

After a strong 2024 from Jack Flaherty, in a contract year, that saw him pitch to a 3.17 ERA with the Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2025 has been a struggle for the veteran.

Through his first eight starts, he has managed to pitch only 41 innings and carries a 4.61 ERA with 50 strikeouts and an 86 ERA+. The up-and-down performances year-over-year have been a trend for the righty throughout his career, and 2025 looks to be a down year.

Jack Flaherty Is Consistently Inconsistent

Flaherty has not always been a below-average pitcher in MLB. After debuting for the St. Louis Cardinals late in 2017, his rookie campaign in 2018 would be a strong one with a 3.34 ERA across 151 innings. He would top that mark in 2019, with a 2.75 ERA across 196 1/3 innings, leading everyone to believe he was a legitimate ace.

That would not be the case, however, and his ERA marks and ERA+ totals would fluctuate wildly over the next four seasons, per baseball-reference.

Jack Flaherty	ERA	ERA+
2020	4.91	86
2021	3.22	122
2022	4.25	93
2023	4.99	87

Then the strong performance in 2024, again, in a contract year, had people believing in Flaherty once again. It led Detroit to reunite with the pitcher on a two-year, $35 million deal.

Entering 2025, Flaherty carried a career ERA of 3.63 across 829 2/3 innings in 159 games (153 starts) with 942 strikeouts and a 112 ERA+. That is held up tremendously by his strong 2019 and 2024 performances, however, as the rest of his career has not been as great.

This year is not a contract year, so Flaherty is back to struggling. Being consistently inconsistent is the pitcher's calling card, and it has not gone over well for the Tigers this year.