Aug. 4—Almost as quickly as he called his second rehab appearance proof of how “healthy” he is, Cardinals righthander Jack Flaherty described this other sensation he’s felt coming off the mound.

Close.

“I’d love to pitch real soon,” the opening day starter said of returning to the major-league rotation. “I would love to pitch as soon as possible — especially with the way things have felt and the way things are going, and the way I am mentally, and the way I feel. There is light at the end of the tunnel. At this point I’m a little impatient.”

Fresh from his second start in a week for Class AAA Memphis, Flaherty joined the Cardinals on Tuesday at Busch Stadium, met with club officials, and will head out for a third rehab start within the week. A club official confirmed the plan after those discussions Tuesday. If that appearance goes well and the righthander recovers, it’s possible his next start will be with the Cardinals on their upcoming road trip, setting him up for his next start vs. Milwaukee.

Flaherty reached 58 pitches and three innings in his start Sunday for the Triple-A Redbirds, and his next outing could push him toward at least 75.

What has aided his rehab is the work he was able to do with his arm and legs while healing from the torn oblique he experienced May 31 at Dodger Stadium. Flaherty had a program of long toss to maintain arm strength and whatever movement he could do that did not tax his torso. That work, incremental as it was, gave the two months of healing some sense of progress.

“If I was to look at things in June and look at it from a long range, I would have completely lost my mind,” Flaherty said while his teammates took batting practice Tuesday. “That’s been something that has helped — take it step by step and try to get up the mountain as fast as possible. ... Took a couple of days to be frustrated, to be upset, and then take it one day at a time. What can I do each day to maximize the day and maximize trying to get healthier and get back?”

In two rehab appearances for Memphis, both against Atlanta’s top affiliate, Flaherty threw five innings and struck out eight. On Sunday, a prolonged first inning came in part because the righthander was focused on landing his breaking pitches and tightening them. By the later innings he called his stuff “crisp.”

The Cardinals will finalize plans for when and where Flaherty’s next rehab start as soon as Wednesday. He’d be on turn to start Friday, and Class AA Springfield is at home.

“The arm feels good,” Flaherty said. “It’s just a matter of how many pitches until they say we’re good.”

Also on the comeback trail...

On his route back from forearm soreness that has limited him to less than 60 pitches in the majors since the end of 2019, Miles Mikolas pitched into the fifth inning for Springfield as the first of two big-leaguers to throw Tuesday for the S-Cards. Mikolas allowed one run on four hits and a walk, and he struck out three in 4 2/3 innings. The righthander, who had forearm surgery end his 2020 season and a calcification in the same area interrupt a brief return to the Cardinals this season, threw 67 pitches. True to form, he clogged the zone with 43 strikes.

Shildt said Mikolas leaping from Tuesday to the majors would be unlikely. The righthander is tentatively scheduled for another rehab start before a return still targeted for mid-August.

Daniel Ponce de Leon (shoulder) followed Mikolas into the S-Cards’ game, replacing Mikolas in the fifth inning, retired the first five batters he faced before tumbling into trouble after his 30th pitch. Ponce de Leon allowed a single, a walk, and then a three-run homer to end his evening. The Cardinals will consider Ponce de Leon for a return from the injured list in the coming week.

Honoring Hummel

Baseball writer Rick Hummel, who was inducted into the writer’s wing of the Hall of Fame in 2007, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday night as the Cardinals honor his 50 years with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. More than four decades of that time has been spent covering baseball. ... Former Cardinals infielder Bo Hart threw out the ceremonial first pitch Tuesday night. ... As part of Friday’s whirlwind trade deadline, the Cubs acquired outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Mets, bringing a high school peer of Flaherty’s into the NL Central. Flaherty said Crow-Armstrong let their agent know he was going to homer off Flaherty when they inevitably face each other. Flaherty’s response: “I would hit him in the ribs before he had a chance to do that.”