Tigers fans melting down over Jack Flaherty's latest dud vs Pirates as tensions rise

The Tigers were able to breathe a sigh of relief on Sunday, when they won on a Tarik Skubal bump day to stop a six-game slide and prevent a sweep, but there were still causes for concern during that Rangers finale. The bullpen immediately almost blew it and tagged Skubal with a run after he was pulled with runners on the corners, and the offense was only able to cobble together two runs.

The Rangers series should've been a reset after losing four before the All-Star break — Texas was just below .500 going in — but since that didn't work, maybe the below-.400 Pirates would do the trick.

The Tigers rolled into PNC Park with Jack Flaherty on the hill for the opener, facing Paul Skenes. Skenes was always going to give the Tigers' offense grief, so it was just up to Flaherty to stifle one of the worst offenses in the league until Skenes was pulled and Detroit could have a better shot at doing more damage.

Flaherty didn't even get close. He was pulled after the third, having given up three runs on six hits and three walks, and fans weren't happy.

Tigers fans raging at Jack Flaherty after another lackluster start vs. Pirates

The Tigers' offense has to shoulder some of this blame too, which reemphasizes their pretty desperate need to buy a bat at trade deadline. Skenes looked great through six, but Detroit went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and could barely get a hit off of Braxton Ashcraft, Dennis Santana, and potential trade target David Bednar, who finished off the last three innings in the Pirates' win.

But Flaherty baited Tigers fans with a nice first inning, when he allowed two singles but struck out the side, and then it all fell apart in the third, when he allowed three runs to score with two outs. That $20 million player option on Flaherty's contract for 2026 is looking more and more ominous with every start.

There's a silver lining to Flaherty's inconsistency: sometimes he pitches like he did last year, and he and the Tigers just need to find a way to harness that. The Tigers can identify what's not working — he's struggled with his fastball since May — so now it's just a question of whether or not it's fixable.

The Tigers aren't going to DFA him, to the chagrin of a lot of fans, but calls are going to get louder if he continues to struggle.