Flaherty will start the Cardinals' Grapefruit League opener Friday against the Marlins, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Teams typically lean heavily on their younger arms early on in the exhibition slate before veteran pitchers increase their workloads closer to the start of the season, so it's not surprising that the 22-year-old Flaherty will garner the first start of the spring rather than the Cardinals' more established options. Flaherty may receive a token shot to audition for spot in the big-league rotation this spring, but Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright look like safe bets to win back-end rotation roles. Flaherty, who posted a 2.74 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 85.1 innings with Triple-A Memphis in 2017 before garnering a late-season promotion to the majors, is thus likely to open the upcoming campaign in the minors, though he may rank first in line to enter the St. Louis rotation in the event of an injury.