The Pittsburgh Pirates made a series of trades at the deadline, with the final one being a prospect-only deal. According to Jonathan Mayo, the Pirates sent right-handed pitcher Patrick Reilly to the Baltimore Orioles, receiving second baseman/outfielder Billy Cook in return.
Cook is in his age-25 season, and wasn’t rated among the updated Baseball America top 30. He does give the Pirates an upper-level depth option, batting .279/.372/.485 with 11 homers and 12 stolen bases in 304 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this year.
Drafted in the 10th round in 2021, Cook has spent time all over the field. He’s played most of his time this year at first base, while also getting time in left field, center field, right field, second base, and one start at third. The super-utility player will be best used for the Pirates as outfield depth, where he gets good grades for his athleticism.
Reilly was drafted by the Pirates in the fifth round last year. I had him as the number 11 prospect in the system in my latest update, and Baseball America had him eighth. In his first pro season, the right-hander from Vanderbilt had a 3.38 ERA in 88 innings for High-A Greensboro, while leading the Pirates’ minor league system in strikeouts with 108.
Reilly throws mid-90s with his fastball, mixing in two variations of a slider, and does a great job at changing speeds. He’s dealt with control issues, but showed improvements over the last few months with Greensboro. He’s a college pitcher in A-ball, so the bigger test of his abilities will come after he’s moved up to Double-A.
