Consider O's RHP prospect Reilly both older and wiser after return from Tommy John surgery

There haven’t been many opportunities for Patrick Reilly to pitch on or around his birthday throughout his life, so he marked his 25th in style with a successful first outing for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League. 

With his dad, Mike, in town for the occasion, the two enjoyed a steak dinner on Wednesday. The Orioles prospect went to bed early, then mowed through a stout Glendale lineup on Thursday, striking out six over three frames of one-run ball. He punched out Top 100 prospects Eduardo Quintero (LAD No. 2/MLB No. 15) and Caleb Bonemer (CWS No. 2/MLB No. 27) en route to the Javelinas' 10-2 win at Camelback Ranch.

Of the six balls put in play against Reilly, just one registered as hard-hit (in excess of 95+ mph off the bat). His four-seam fastball averaged 96.2 mph -- topping out at 97.7 -- and averaged 18 inches of induced vertical break, a nearly elite amount of movement. His slider, in particular, was nearly impossible to square up, with batters whiffing on seven of their 12 swings against it. 

The Orioles acquired Reilly at the 2024 Trade Deadline in a one-for-one prospect swap for Billy Cook. The 6-foot-3 righty had pitched primarily out of the bullpen across three seasons for Vanderbilt and in his first taste of pro ball in Pittsburgh’s system before getting stretched out for the rotation the year he was dealt.

But after just three outings in 2025, his right elbow was barking. Reilly underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-May and was faced with the reality that he would miss over a year of development. The New Jersey native gained new perspective when he couldn't pitch. 

“It's not as big of a deal as we make it,” said Reilly. “Pitching is fun, competition's fun. Sometimes you can get lost in that, and having that time -- a year-plus -- to look at all that in the grand scheme of things coming back, I'm just trying to have as much fun as I can.”

Reilly was ranked No. 10 on the Orioles’ Top 30 Prospects list at the start of the 2025 season, but recently slid off due to a combination of the club’s influx of talent from the Draft and Trade Deadline, along with curiosity about whether his stuff would rebound post-surgery.

Reilly's high-octane arsenal dates back to his three years at Vanderbilt, but it’s been a process for him to refine that command in a game setting. The Fall League offers a chance for him to make up for lost innings, having compiled just 53 regular-season frames across three levels following his return in late June. 

“I think that was one of the bigger things I wanted to work on, knowing I had time down and building from the ground up with the legs and with the arm, how everything's moving,” Reilly said. “I'm very lucky, fortunate, and I put in a lot of work to make sure that it's actually one of the first things that came back.” 

He wrapped the regular season with a return to Double-A Chesapeake and making eight starts as part of one of the Minors’ most dominant rotations, which included Anthony Eyanson (BAL No. 2/MLB No. 45), Joseph Dzierwa (BAL No. 3/MLB No. 69) and Caden Hunter (BAL No. 4/MLB No. 92). Reilly was particularly locked in down the stretch, posting a 2.08 ERA with a 41/11 K/BB ratio over his final six outings. He credited the success to being reunited with college teammate Dom Keegan, who served as his batterymate for all of those starts. 

“Me for the first time in pro ball being an older guy, it was fun to watch them and kind of bust their chops a little bit about being the young guys,” Reilly said. “In the clubhouse, we're playing ping-pong together, we're playing video games together, we're always competing and laughing and we're always having a good time. But they're all good and they all do things so differently. It's so fun to watch them.”

Peoria’s win featured a flurry of other notable performances from Orioles prospects: Vance Honeycutt and Ike Irish (BAL No. 5/MLB No. 95) -- the club’s 2024 and ‘25 first-rounders -- socked their second Fall League homers, while infielder Brandon Butterworth slugged a grand slam. All three have an OPS north of 1.000 through the first week of action in the desert.