What I observed out of new Orioles pitching prospect Pat Reilly's first start for Bowie last Sunday
*Cover Photo Credit: Grant DeVivo
Sunday's contest between the Bowie Baysox and the Harrisburg Senators, August 11, happened to be Pirates and Princess Day at Baysox Sunday Funday. However, I was not interested in any pirate's pot of gold or a dance with some random princess. I drove to the that morning eager to see one particular player that day.
That player was newly acquired pitcher Pat Reilly.
The 22-year-old Vanderbilt product was a last-second acquisition from the Pirates in a Minor League swap for one of my favorites, beloved utility player Billy Cook. I read that he had been having a solid season for High-A Greensboro, pitching to a 3.38 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP in 19 starts. I had also read that he was quickly placed as the Orioles' No. 15 prospect.
I thought that made sense and once I heard that Aberdeen had sent Reilly to Bowie, I was eager to get back out to Bowie and see what the new guy was all about.
I got my chance on Sunday. This was his first official start for the Baysox, though he had already appeared in relief as the first pitcher out for Bowie in a resumed suspended game on August 4.
First, I observed his warm-up routine which consisted of throwing a medicine ball and plyo balls. When he began throwing his bullpen session to his battery mate for the day, Silas Ardoin, I saw that he had a very basic overhand delivery in which he colapses down on his front side well and hides the ball in his delivery well. I could tell that the 4-seam fastball was flying out of his hand as it hit Ardoin's mit. The one thing that concerned me was that it seemed like he was having trouble getting his slider across, as he would often leave it up and off the zone.
Only time would tell in the game if he would make the adjustment, but it would be a minor adjustment and he looked legit overall. I was excited for the game to start so I could see him throw to batters.
It was a swift and quick start to the day. Reilly had a quick 7-pitch 1-2-3 top of the first, attacking the lower part of the zone against Harrisburg's three best hitters and retiring them on two fly outs and a ground out.
The thought had already settled in my mind. We got a guy here.
Reilly had another swift second inning as he struck out the 4 and 5 hitters and finished the inning off with a fly out of former Oakland Athletic Dermis Garcia. By this point, Bowie had already taken a 3-0 lead, giving Reilly some room to work with.
When the third inning came around, his fastball had warmed up and he was humming around 96 MPH.
Things got a little tricky for the right-hander here when he engaged in a tough battle with Cortland Lawson, who had a .493 OPS coming into the day. The 12-pitch battle ended in a frustrating base-on-balls, as Lawson reached base sending Cody Wilson to the plate. Reilly fought in another tough battle, as this at-bat for Wilson lasted 9 pitches. Fortunately, there was a better outcome in that it ended with a strike-em-out throw-em-out double play for the Baysox on a 2-2 count. Within the next 9 pitches, Reilly had surrendered a ground-rule double but rebounded with another fly out, making it 3 scoreless innings but now with an elavated pitch count.
Reilly finally got tagged for 2 runs in the 4th inning, but both ended up being unearned. It started when Andrew Pinckney slapped a base-hit to right field that got under Dylan Beavers' glove, allowing him to advance to second base on a single and an error. He eventually scored on a base hit from Yohandy Morales. With two outs, the second error occured when Ardoin missed catching a runner trying to steal and skipped the ball to centerfield, allowing the runner to advance to third base on a throwing error. That run scored seconds later on a wild pitch.
In some cases as the defense struggles, pitchers may fall apart out of frustration. However, Reilly recollected, struck out Garcia to end the inning, and limitted the damage, allowing Bowie to grab the bats again and add some insurance runs.
Reilly's day ended there, as he went a total of 4 innings with 2 runs, neither earned. He struck out 4 batters, walked just one, and allowed only 3 hits. He needed 68 pitches, 48 of them being strikes.
The Baysox would fall to the Senators 5-4, but would finish with an awesome 5-1 series win. Reilly eventually came out from his postgame routine in the later innings to watch the remainder of the game and sign some autographs for fans.
Overall, I was highly impressed by Reilly. Seeing that he only needed 19 pitches to manouver through the first two innings was very encouraging. If he can balance that pitch count out the second and third times through the order, then he'll definitely be going deeper than 4-5 innings.
The strikeout stuff is definitely there. He had 108 strikeouts in 88 innings in the Pirates organization before the trade. In 7.1 innings with the Baysox, he has 9 strikeouts and he is bound to add onto that season 11.05 K/9 in Bowie. The fastball is a legit fastball, and his slider breaks off the plate very late if spotted correctly.
There was some talk that he has some command and walk issues, and I can see that a little bit. He does have an elavated 4.1 BB/9 this season and based on what I saw, it is because he has trouble finishing certain batters off and getting his pitches across. When he loses touch with the shoulders in his delivery, his stuff misses high. It may be a mechanical thing that he needs to fix, or perhaps a mental toughness to beat a guy. I'll leave that up to the professionals to tell him ;).
Fans, the overall point that I am trying to make here is that this is Pat Reilly. Those Minor League swaps do not usually gain much traction and attention, but this one is going to pay off. Cook is going to get a big league opportunity with the Bucs soon, and Reilly can make a name for himself in an organization that is never short of any sort of pitching.
I believe that the Orioles need to put time in developing Reilly because there is something special with him. He has a good arsenal, he gets swings and misses, and he has the makings of a solid middle or back-end member of the starting rotation. This is going to be a fun guy to watch over the next year or two.
Write it down somewhere. I want everyone to remember this name.
Pat Reilly.
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