The St. Louis Cardinals activated ace Jack Flaherty from the 60-day injured list and he will make his season debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Flaherty has been sidelined with right shoulder soreness. He will throw approximately 60 pitches before exiting.
The 26-year-old Flaherty received a platelet-rich-plasma injection in the shoulder in March to deal with the inflammation.
Flaherty was slated to make a rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday but the Cardinals reversed course on Tuesday after the right-hander insisted he would get more out of a major league start than a third minor league rehab appearance.
Flaherty is 8-1 with a 2.22 ERA in 11 career starts against the Pirates.
Flaherty is 32-24 with a 3.34 ERA in 93 appearances (90 starts) over his first five seasons. He finished fourth in National League Cy Young balloting in 2019 when he went 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 33 starts.
Last season, Flaherty was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA in 17 appearances (15 starts) while missing time with oblique and shoulder injuries.
St. Louis also optioned left-hander Packy Naughton to Triple-A Memphis and designated catcher Ali Sanchez for assignment.
Naughton is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in nine appearances (three starts) with the Cardinals this season. Sanchez was batting .255 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 30 games for Memphis.
–Field Level Media