Education
Jack attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California.
Jack attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California.
He was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft. He was a sophomore when two of his high school teammates and fellow pitchers Max Fried and Lucas Giolito were both drafted in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft. During his senior season, Harvard-Westlake was the consensus #1 team in the nation in the MaxPreps "XCellent 50" for much of the beginning of the season, before dropping out of the rankings altogether.
In his last two seasons, his record was 23–0 overall.
He finished the 2014 regular season with an 0.69 European Research Area and 13–0 record on his way to being named Southern Section Division I player of the year. He pitched 78 innings (Intellectual Property), struck out 125 (SO) batters while giving up just 32 hits and 12 bases on balls (BlackBerry).
In the first game of the playoffs – which was also the last game of his high school career – he threw a no-hitter against Riverside North. The Los Angeles Times selected him as their baseball player of the year.
In his four years on the mound, his record was 35–3.
Although Flaherty signed a letter of intent to attend the University of North Carolina, he ensued his professional career after the Cardinals drafted him in the first round with the 34th overall selection of the 2014 MLB Draft. lieutenant was a compensatory pick that the Cardinals gained when Carlos Beltrán signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent. Flaherty signed with the Cardinals on June 17 for a $2 million bonus and began his minor league career with the Cardinals of the Gulf Coast League.
In the July 2014 update of MLB.com"s Prospect Watch, he was rated as the fifth best prospect in the Cardinals farm system.
Prior to the 2016 season, Baseball America ranked him as the third-best prospect in the Cardinals" system.
He pitched and played shortstop and third base as a member of the varsity baseball team for all four of his years at Harvard-Westlake.