Jack Flaherty's dominance vs. Guardians was exactly what Tigers needed for trade deadline

The Tigers desperately needed Jack Flaherty to take the mound against the Guardians on Thursday and be as good as he's been all season, and to show absolutely zero signs that his recurring back issue will be a problem for him at the deadline. Flaherty received a second injection to treat pain in his back ahead of his start, after missing two since the issue popped up in June, but it seemed touch-and-go as to whether or not he would actually proceed as scheduled.

But he did step up to mound and he did the Tigers one better — he dominated the Guardians. It was another quality start for Flaherty, who threw six innings and only gave up one run, a solo shot to Bo Naylor, while striking out four. The Tigers' offense came up big time for him as well, putting up six runs by the end of the fourth and 10 by the time the game was over. Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller came in behind Flaherty to keep things scoreless from the seventh through ninth.

Flaherty bringing his market value up after a slight wobble is exactly what the Tigers needed. He'll get at least one more start between now and the deadline, but bouncing back right after his ability to make the start at all was called into question is the perfect message to telegraph to buying teams.

Jack Flaherty's great outing against Guardians was perfect for Tigers' trade deadline ambitions

Flaherty lowered his season ERA by 11 points with his Thursday start and has a 2.23 ERA over his last seven despite his potentially scary back issues. While it's still not an amazing sign that the issue hasn't been eliminated altogether yet, he's been able to avoid an IL stint and has been able to continue performing at a high level.

The Tigers have had a fantastic July so far, going 7-3 against the Twins, Reds, and Guardians. This was Flaherty's first appearance this month, after missing his last start. Thursday's game was atypical of this Detroit team with its lopsided score, as the Tigers are still winning by thin margins when they're winning, but they are winning, which is incredibly refreshing after a 5-9 last two weeks of July.

We've said it before but we'll say it again: Flaherty is getting moved at the deadline, despite some rather thin arguments to the contrary. Now, he just has to continue driving his price up and up for the Tigers.