The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon that they have acquired minor league pitchers Drew Rom and Zack Showalter and minor league infielder César Prieto from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitcher Jack Flaherty.
Rom and Prieto are both listed among the Orioles top-20 prospects by MLB Pipeline.
Rom, 23, has made 18 starts for Norfolk (AAA) this season, going 7-6 and striking out 100 batters in 86.0 innings pitched. The 6-2, 215-pound lefty, who was the Orioles 4th round draft selection in 2018 out of Highlands (KY) High School, will be assigned to Memphis (AAA).
Prieto, 24, is in his second season of professional ball, having signed out of Cuba in January of 2022. The versatile lefty hitting infielder has played shortstop, 2nd base and 3rd base, and was batting .349 with a .868 OPS between Bowie (AA) and Norfolk (AAA) this season in 85 games. The 5-9, 175-pound Prieto will be assigned to Memphis (AAA).
Showalter, 19, was the Orioles 11th round selection in 2022 out of Wesley Chapel (Fla.) High School. The 6-2, 195-pound righty has posted a 2.37 ERA this year in his 1st professional season in 9 games (8 starts), while producing a 32 pct. strikeout rate and 46 pct. groundball rate. He will be assigned to Palm Beach (A).
Flaherty, 27, was 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA in 20 starts for the Cardinals this season. He was a 1st round draft selection by the Cardinals in 2014 and pitched seven seasons (2017-23) with St. Louis, going 41-31 with a 3.58 ERA in 122 games.
