JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals, some say, need more starting pitching, need a big name, need an ace.

“You hear it. And you don’t need any extra motivation — but you take it,” Jack Flaherty told The Post-Dispatch on Friday, seated in a quiet moment outside the Cardinals’ spring training clubhouse. “You hear what guys say. Especially when it’s people you know that want to say certain things or talk about what we have or don’t have. It’s just like — all right, we’ll put it together. … I know what we’ve got. We know we’ve got.”

Here’s what I think they’ve got — a 2023 All-Star. I’m putting up a Flaherty flare. This guy is going to be great this season. After talking with him Friday — and listening to him and other Cardinals folks at Winter Warm-up — Jack’s sincerity and singeing desire should translate into performance. And like he said, he doesn’t need any extra motivation, but …

It’s the last year before he’s a free agent.

It’s his chance to prove that he pitch a full year of excellence.

It’s his final year with mentor Adam Wainwright.

It’s a chance to show that he is the big name. That he is the ace.

Now, will the other four starters also ascend? Every year, someone gets hurt and someone underachieves. So here’s thinking the Cardinals will need to be big-time buyers at the trade deadline. But here’s also thinking that a big-time Flaherty will put them into contention to be buyers in the first place.

Last year was an infuriating one for Flaherty with injuries and setbacks and recovery. But even still, in his five September starts, his swing-and-miss stuff was present in four of them. Overall, he pitched 28 September innings and struck out 27 batters. Yes, there were quite a few hits and walks, too. He wasn’t at an All-Star level then. But it was part of the journey toward rediscovering his everything.

“It’s been about getting more consistent with things, being able to execute when I want to,” said Flaherty, who, you might have heard, had a nice second half of 2019. “It’s about being able to get ahead (in the count), 0-1, 0-2. And for me, sometimes, my slider may be my best pitch, but it always takes a second — once hitters get in there — to kind of read how they are swinging at it and, (thus), what adjustments need to be made. Because I could throw a bunch and they all feel great, but the hitter is going to tell you what it’s going to do.

“So that’s always the thing in this beginning part here (of the season), being able to locate it where I want to. And then, it’s how are hitters going to react to it once we get them in there.”

Sitting at a picnic table Friday, Flaherty said he’s “just feeling in a good place,” after going through injury frustration in spring training and some of 2022. “Physically, mentally, it’s like, OK, yeah, this is going to be fun. I just enjoy things a lot more.”

Some Flaherty clarity, if you will.

When he made his first camp appearance on Thursday, he spotted Wainwright in the parking lot. He called the over the old vet and the two hugged. “Waino” was wearing a red-and-white baseball hat, but this one was from his Georgia high school, Glynn Academy. He was a student there in 1995, the year Flaherty was born.

But now, the protégé has a protégé. Flaherty will pay it forward this spring by mentoring Michael McGreevy, a fellow first-round drafted righty from southern California (who also stands 6 feet 4). McGreevy, 22, is a non-roster invitee to big-league camp — he started 20 games for Class AA Springfield, finishing 6-4 with a 4.64 ERA.

Now, will McGreevy ever be regular-season teammates with Flaherty?

That question is hard to answer this February. McGreevy would possibly debut in 2024 (though we've seen guys jump from Springfield to St. Louis before). It wouldn’t make much sense to bet on Flaherty’s future contract right now (or what team gave it to him). A memorable 2023 with St. Louis could affect his trajectory and decision-making.

And as of now, that’s his focus — this singular year, this opportunity of a year, this blank canvas of a year.

A year, Flaherty feels, St. Louis could make the World Series. Then again…

“We’ve got a real good team — and we’re returning almost everybody from last year,” he said. “You know, you’re not going to replace Yadi (Molina) and Albert (Pujols) — you just want guys to come in and play the way that they know how. But we feel like we’re in a pretty good spot. … We don’t come into a year and be like, ‘Oh, let’s go win the division.’ No, no, no. We’re trying to be the last team standing.”