The final day before MLB’s trade deadline was a whirlwind.

First, it was Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers going to Miami for Trevor Rogers. Hours later, Eloy Jiménez was an Oriole. Then Austin Slater. And then Gregory Soto.

Minutes after the deadline ended, another trade was announced — not one to help the 2024 Orioles but one that could impact future iterations. Baltimore and Pittsburgh swapped minor leaguers, with the Pirates getting utility player Billy Cook and the Orioles acquiring right-hander Patrick Reilly.

Reilly instantly became one of Baltimore’s best pitching prospects, now ranked No. 15 overall in its system by Baseball America. The Orioles believed in his talent so much that they promoted him to Double-A after spending the season with Pittsburgh’s High-A affiliate.

“There was a clear indication of being talented there. He’s a special athlete,” Bowie pitching coach Austin Meine said of when the Baysox first saw Reilly after he reported. “When we first got him and he went about his business, there was a lot to be excited about.”

In his first 23 1/3 innings with the Baysox, the 22-year-old Reilly has flashed the upside that makes him an intriguing prospect. His best start came last week when he struck out eight across five scoreless innings. He has a 3.86 ERA with Bowie and a 3.48 ERA on the season with 134 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings.

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said after the deadline that Reilly was someone the organization’s scouts “were high on.” The Pirates, meanwhile, were looking for right-handed bats, and Cook, who made his MLB debut over the weekend, was Rule 5 eligible this offseason, meaning Baltimore would have needed to add him to its 40-man roster or risk losing him.

“Pretty simply, it’s pitching for hitting,” Elias said about the deal. “Theirs is a system that’s a little more pitching-oriented, and ours, we’ve got a lot of position players. … I guess you could call it a little bit of a challenge trade in that regard, but I think we like the demographic shift from hitting to pitching.”

Meine said his first step when a new pitcher joins the organization is to “build a rapport” with him, learning how they think and “get a feel for their story.” This also involved Meine doing his “homework” on Riley’s pitching style and arsenal.

He said Reilly, a 2023 fifth-round pick, has impressed early on with his new organization with his open-minded attitude and eagerness to be a “sponge.”

“Pat’s made a great first impression since the moment he walked in the clubhouse,” the pitching coach said. “Very professional in his business, very polite. You can certainly tell that he’s very well respected, and he shows a lot of respect around the clubhouse to who’s already there.”

On the mound, Reilly flashes a mid-90s fastball with a cutter, sweeper and splitter — all pitches he can throw against both left- and right-handed hitters, Meine said. His fastball-cutter combination makes up the majority of his pitch mix, but his sweeper provides a “good change of speed” while his splitter tunnels well off his fastball, Meine said.

Like most young pitchers, command is the biggest question mark with Reilly, who mostly worked as a reliever at Vanderbilt. He’s walked 4.6 batters per nine innings with the Baysox — a number rarely seen from major league starters. But he’s maintained his ability to get weak contact and miss bats even while facing more talented hitters in Double-A.

“It’s been a great transition so far for Pat,” Meine said.

But Reilly isn’t the only Orioles prospect adjusting to a new level this summer. That’s why each week, The Baltimore Sun will break down five of the top performers in the Orioles’ prospect ranks and hand out some superlatives for those who didn’t make that cut.

1. Double-A Bowie outfielder Dylan Beavers: It’s been an up-and-down 2024 season for Beavers, but last week was one of his best this year. The 23-year-old went 6-for-20 with three home runs and a triple, flashing the power that’s yet to fully develop. Beavers, who Baseball America ranks as the club’s No. 7 prospect, has spent the entire season with Bowie and is hitting .238 with a .756 OPS. With one week left in Bowie’s season, Beavers, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2022 draft, could be promoted for a brief stint in Triple-A or open the 2024 campaign there.

2. High-A Aberdeen outfielder Austin Overn: A few weeks after speedster and defensive wizard Enrique Bradfield Jr. was promoted to Double-A, the Orioles replaced him with perhaps the next best thing in their system. Overn’s scouting grades for his speed (75 out of 80) and defense (70) are among the best on Baltimore’s farm, giving the 2024 third-round pick a similar profile to Bradfield’s 80-grade speed and 70-grade defense. Overn, 21, hit the ground running with the IronBirds last week, going 5-for-20 with a double, two triples and four stolen bases. In 21 games between Aberdeen and Low-A Delmarva, the Orioles’ No. 26 prospect is slashing .280/.398/.467 — good for an .865 OPS.

3. Double-A Bowie right-hander Cameron Weston: Weston, one of the biggest risers on the Orioles’ farm this year, continued his excellent 2024 campaign with another scoreless start last week. The 24-year-old struck out nine and allowed only two hits across a career-high six innings. Between Aberdeen and Bowie this year, Weston has pitched to a 2.83 ERA in 105 innings with 125 strikeouts and a sparkling 0.981 WHIP. After entering the season unranked, Baseball America has the 2022 eighth-round pick as Baltimore’s 24th-best prospect.

4. Low-A Delmarva outfielder Braylin Tavera: The Orioles had high hopes for Tavera when they signed the outfielder out of the Dominican Republic for a then-organizational record $1.7 million in January 2022. His first year of full-season ball hasn’t gone as planned, as the 19-year-old ended it Sunday hitting .173 with a .509 OPS with the Shorebirds. But his final week of the season was an encouraging one in which Tavera, unranked by Baseball America after opening the season No. 18, went 6-for-20 with a homer and four walks. The tools and potential are still there, and Tavera will work toward making 2024 an aberration.

5. Double-A Bowie right-hander Trace Bright: After not completing five innings since April, Bright pitched a career-high 6 1/3 innings Sunday for one of the best starts of his professional career. The 2022 fifth-round pick started two games last week, racking up nine strikeouts and allowing three runs in 10 1/3 innings. Bright, the Orioles’ No. 12 prospect, has a 4.24 ERA in 108 1/3 innings with 117 strikeouts for the Baysox this season.

The top prospect not featured yet

Catcher Samuel Basallo’s start in Triple-A was a bit choppy — as expected for a 20-year-old playing against the minors’ best players and former big leaguers. But he did something in his ninth game that proved why he’s one of baseball’s best prospects. Basallo on Saturday blasted a 455-foot home run that cleared the scoreboard in right-center field. It’s already impressive that Basallo is in Triple-A at his young age, but he bashes more long balls like that to begin next season, he might not be there for too long.

International acquisition of the week

The Orioles signed Edwin Amparo out of the Dominican Republic for $650,000 in January 2022, and after spending two and a half years in rookie ball, the switch-hitting infielder was promoted to Delmarva in August. In 27 games for the Shorebirds, the 19-year-old is slashing .284/.398/.395 — good for a .793 OPS — after hitting two homers and a double last week.

Time to give a shoutout to …

The crop of arms from the 2023 draft class mostly impressed on the farm this year, including 12th-round pick Blake Money. After ending his season with five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts last week, Money finishes his first full year of professional ball with a 3.15 ERA in 105 innings. His 4.76 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked third in the system among starting pitchers in affiliated ball.