Former St. Louis Cardinals players Jack Flaherty and Lane Thomas are having excellent postseasons.
The St. Louis Cardinals player development staff was rightly revamped this offseason, as Gary LaRocque and the franchise parted ways. LaRocque was ultimately responsible for some recent failures in the scouting department, and inability to develop top-rated prospects like Dylan Carlson and (perhaps) Jordan Walker.
Perhaps even more concerning are former Cardinals who have performed well on other teams, of which there are many. Just last season, the likes of Adolis Garcia and Randy Arozarena haunted St. Louis baseball fans in the postseason. Garcia went on to win a World Series with the Texas Rangers.
This October, the punishment is arguably even worse. Jack Flaherty and Lane Thomas — both former Cardinals in their own right — had two memorable playoff moments on back-to-back days.
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Lane Thomas is a former Cardinals outfielder who didn’t work out
Thomas hit a grand slam off Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of the Cleveland Guardians ALDS series win over the Detroit Tigers. That Skubal guy is pretty good. In fact, he’s the favorite to win the AL Cy Young! Thomas is a former Cards prospect who flamed out in 2021.
He played three seasons in the majors in St. Louis, but got off to a terrible 32-game start in his final season when he slashed .104/.259/.125 with just 1 RBI during that timespan. It’s tough to blame the Cardinals for punting on Thomas, but perhaps that says more about their development staff than the player himself.
Jack Flaherty is making Cardinals fans pay
Unlike Thomas, Flaherty performed admirably in Cardinals colors for the better part of seven seasons. However, the homegrown ace hit a wall in 2023, and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for prospects in a contract year. Flaherty finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2019, but failed to replicate that success until this season in Detroit.
Flaherty went 7-5 in Detroit this season and was eventually dealt to Los Angeles at the trade deadline. Flaherty grew up a Dodgers fan in California, so the trade was a dream come true for him and ended up working out well for both sides. The Tigers made the postseason in part thanks to Trey Sweeney (who was sent to Detroit as part of the return package).
Flaherty, meanwhile, put together one of his best starts of the season in NLCS Game 1. In seven innings, Flaherty gave up just two hits and no runs.
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