Orioles reportedly acquire pitcher Jack Flaherty from Cardinals, fortifying rotation at MLB trade deadline

The Orioles hoped to use the trade deadline to upgrade their starting rotation. As the time ticked away for them to do so, they made their move.

Minutes before Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline, Baltimore reportedly acquired right-hander Jack Flaherty, a pending free agent, from the St. Louis Cardinals for Triple-A Norfolk infielder César Prieto and left-hander Drew Rom and Low-A Delmarva right-hander Zack Showalter, the organization’s Nos. 13, 15 and 16 prospects according to Baseball America.

In 20 starts with the Cardinals, the 27-year-old Flaherty had a 4.43 ERA, only a tick better than the 4.48 mark Baltimore’s starters have collectively posted through Monday. He’s coming off a strong July, however, recording a 3.03 ERA in five starts and pitching at least six innings in four of them.

Flaherty looked like a future star in 2019, when as a 23-year-old he finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting thanks to a 2.75 ERA and NL-best 0.968 WHIP. In the four seasons since, his ERA across 55 games, all but three starts, is 4.12. He’s regarded as a league-average pitcher over that span by ERA+.

Still, he supplies another experienced arm to a rotation that needed one. Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Grayson Rodriguez entered this season with fewer than 40 career major league starts. Including the minors, Rodriguez, Baltimore’s top pitching prospect, already has thrown more innings than he has any previous season. Kremer is 15 frames from doing the same. Wells, who is under six innings shy of his career mark, was optioned to Double-A Bowie on Sunday to get what manager Brandon Hyde described as a “break” and “reset” after he struggled in three second-half starts.

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde have said the Orioles take more than innings counts into consideration when evaluating pitchers’ workloads. But the need for another arm became even more apparent with Wells’ struggles. Flaherty presumably takes Wells’ spot in Baltimore’s rotation, with the club having not announced a starter for Thursday’s series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Orioles signed Prieto, 24, out of Cuba before last season. A former Cuban batting champion, he was hitting .349/.393/.375 between Double-A and Triple-A. Rom, 23, was Baltimore’s fourth-round draft pick in 2018 and has a 5.34 ERA in 19 outings, all but one a start, for Norfolk. He did not pitch for Baltimore during a brief call-up in May.

ESPN first reported the full trade.

This story will be updated.

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