Jack Flaherty was refreshingly honest about Tigers struggles after another blowup start

Tigers fans weren't particularly optimistic when Jack Flaherty exercised his player option to stay in Detroit in 2026. He finished the 2025 season on a high note, pitching two gritty innings in that agonizing ALDS Game 5, but it was hard to forget all of the regular season struggles — one of the worst of which triggered an escalator in his contract and doubled his earnings for 2026.

The hope was that the Tigers would be able to get Flaherty back to where he was before the trade deadline in 2024, back to the guy who pitched for a sub-3.00 ERA and made himself one of the most coveted names at the deadline.

2025 didn't go that way, and 2026 has been worst.

The latest blowup was a 3 2/3-inning, four run effort against the Rangers on Friday night, coming off of a two-inning, six-run start his last time on the mound against the Reds.

The Tigers eventually lost 5-4 to Texas, and Flaherty was candid about his struggles in his postgame interview. "Today I was on the attack and really good for the first two innings," he said. "And then after the third inning right there, you just lose it for three hitters, and it's agonizing. It's frustrating. It pisses you off. I'm losing sleep over it every single day trying to figure out what goes on in that little bit right there."

Jack Flaherty was open about his recent struggles after another bad start for Tigers

Flaherty is still put up a characteristic K/9 (9.93), but he's walking batters like never before (7.76 BB/9) and is giving up more home runs (1.55 HR/9).

AJ Hinch acknowledged the weirdness of it, "This is unforeseen and also just not common for him. He doesn't lose the zone. He's competitive over the zone."

"I don’t think I’ve ever walked guys like that in my career," Flaherty said. "It's one of those things that is going to be frustrating until we totally figure it out. And then it's going to be frustrating. it's not something I really did in spring training. It's not something I’ve done ever. … You have a game here and there where that might happen, but for it to continue to happen, I mean, it's frustrating."

The Tigers, historically, have not been eager to give up on their high-cost players, and they're not eager to give up on Flaherty. Fans, too, want him to be that guy again, the guy who looked like a real No. 2 behind Tarik Skubal, but we're already running out of patience.

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