On July 30, the day of the MLB trade deadline, Mike Elias and his staff made a chaotic flurry of moves. The Orioles wheeled and dealed with five different teams in trades that involved 12 players. Add in the Birds\u2019 two previous trades July 26 and the club ultimately acquired or sent away 19 players in a frenzied five-day span.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be forgiven if you overlooked one minor trade the Orioles made within that whirlwind. Minutes before the deadline, they pulled off a rare prospect-for-prospect swap, sending utility man Billy Cook to the Pirates for right-hander Patrick Reilly.<\/p>\n
Reilly was the only non-major leaguer of the nine players the O\u2019s acquired in that span. But if things go right, he could prove to have more staying power than all the rest.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-3 righty, who turned 23 earlier this month, was a fifth round draft pick by the Pirates out of Vanderbilt in 2023. And let\u2019s get this out of the way first: his college statistics won\u2019t exactly fill you with confidence. His ERA in three years with the Commodores was north of five, and he posted an ugly 5.8 BB\/9 in 144 innings (along with 19 hit batsmen) while working mainly in relief. MLB Pipeline notes that the \u201cenigmatic\u201d Reilly had a habit of \u201cshowcasing electric stuff but seldom harnessing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s discuss that electric stuff, though. Reilly\u2019s primary offering is a four-seam fastball that sits 92-95 mph and has touched 97-99. It\u2019s got some serious movement, featuring \u201cplus riding life that has generated a 35% miss rate,\u201d according to FanGraphs\u2019 Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice, who ranked Reilly as the Pirates\u2019 #22 prospect entering the 2024 season. FanGraphs also sees promise in Reilly\u2019s slider, which has \u201cdowner action\u201d and a \u201chorizontal tilt,\u201d as well as his cutter, which he \u201clikes to run in on the hands of left-handed hitters.\u201d He also threw a below-average changeup in college that he has largely scrapped since turning pro.<\/p>\n
After a brief debut in Low-A last year, Reilly began this season with Pittsburgh\u2019s High-A affiliate, Greensboro, and acclimated himself well. The Pirates moved him to a full-time starting role and he posted a 3.89 ERA and 1.159 WHIP in 19 starts, averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings. His walk rate was still high (4.2) though not as bad as it\u2019d been at Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n
As is the case with many young pitching prospects, Reilly wasn\u2019t pushed particularly deep into games. He didn\u2019t throw more than five innings in an outing until June 18, his 13th start of the year, when he dominated with six frames of scoreless, 10-strikeout ball. In early July he faced the Orioles\u2019 affiliate, Aberdeen, and struck out nine without allowing an earned run. That certainly couldn\u2019t have hurt the Orioles\u2019 interest in acquiring him.<\/p>\n
And so they did just a few weeks later, giving up Cook, who was having a standout season at Triple-A Norfolk but didn\u2019t have a clear path to the majors with the Orioles. (Cook debuted for the Pirates in September, batting .224 with a .673 OPS and three homers in 16 games.) The O\u2019s immediately bumped Reilly up a level to Double-A Bowie, where he compiled a 3.73 ERA in 31.1 innings for the rest of the year. His strikeout rate remained essentially the same as it\u2019d been in Low-A, though his walk rate crept back up to 5.2.<\/p>\n
Therein lies the rub with Reilly. He\u2019s always had trouble throwing strikes, in large part due to his high-effort delivery. Longenhagen and Ice note that Reilly pitches from a high arm slot, which gives him extra vertical break on his fastball but also causes his mechanics to get out of whack. For that reason, Reilly\u2019s most realistic future might be in a relief role, and the FanGraphs duo believes \u201chis fastball could jump a grade by maximizing velocity in short, one-inning bursts,\u201d and that he has \u201cthe capacity to handle a higher-leverage role if he can tame the walks.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Orioles are planning to transition Reilly to a short relief role, they\u2019ve shown no signs of doing so. Reilly was a starter in six of his eight outings after the O\u2019s acquired him, and the two bullpen appearances were both bulk-inning, long relief efforts. For his part, Reilly wants to remain a starter. \u201cI like the routine that goes with it, and I like the innings and being able to handle all of that,\u201d he told MLB.com\u2019s Jake Rill. \u201cThat\u2019s what I hope to do for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB Pipeline currently ranks Reilly as the Orioles\u2019 #14 prospect and fifth-best pitching prospect. He\u2019s likely to return to Bowie to start the 2025 season, where the O\u2019s will continue to try him out in the Baysox rotation but could convert him to relief if starting isn\u2019t panning out.<\/p>\n
The win-now Orioles haven\u2019t done a lot of prospect shopping from other teams in the last couple of years, but they made an exception for Reilly. Let\u2019s see if he\u2019ll reward their confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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