*Photo from the Baltimore Sun*
Rotation upgrades are all the rage at the deadline. The Baltimore Orioles have acquired RHP Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for IF Cesar Prieto, LHP Drew Rom, and RHP Zack Showalter, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The trade has been confirmed.
The Orioles make the move to acquire Flaherty as they sit atop the AL at 66-41 entering play on Wednesday. He's done a good job of limiting hard contact this season and is set to hit free agency at the end of the year.
Orioles executive vice president and GM Mike Elias said of Flaherty "A very accomplished, a very talented starting pitcher that bolsters our rotation and our pitching staff as a whole down the stretch. We’re very pleased that this is where we landed, a player that we were targeting, a deal that we liked that made sense for both teams."
Through 5 starts in July, Flaherty has pitched to a 3.30 ERA. On the season as a whole, he has a 4.43 ERA, 4.22 FIP, and 1.550 WHIP, averaging 4.4 walks per 9 innings and 8.7 strikeouts per 9 in 20 starts and 109 2/3 innings pitched.
With the Orioles demoting starter Tyler Wells to Double A Bowie, an addition to a starting rotation that ranks tied for 16th in the MLB and 8th in the AL in ERA became even more necessary. Especially so as the Orioles look for their first playoff berth since 2016 and first division title since 2014.
Elias said of the Orioles pitching staff that "Right now, we've got more than five guys with Flaherty in the fold. We've got an above-average bullpen, we have a filled-to-the-brim position-player roster. This is a good team, and I don't think there's a ton of hierarchy in this rotation, and I think that he goes in right with the best in our group."
One piece of the return for the Cardinals is Prieto, ranked as the 16th best Orioles prospect by MLB Pipeline. With Double A Bowie and Triple A Norfolk this season, Prieto has a .349/.393/.475 slash line with 6 home runs, 20 doubles, and 49 RBI's in 85 games.
Rom is also going to the Cardinals, ranked as the 18th best prospect in the Orioles farm system. Spending the entire season with Norfolk, Rom has a 5.34 ERA and 1.698 WHIP, averaging 10.5 strikeouts per 9 in 18 starts and one relief appearance.
The final piece to the puzzle is Showalter, pitching in his first professional season as a 2022 draft pick. In 8 starts and one relief appearance between the FCL Orioles and Low A Delmarva, Showalter has a 2.37 ERA and 1.319 WHIP, averaging 12.2 strikeouts per 9 in 30 1/3 innings pitched.
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