Stallings: Trade to O's 'a dream come true'

When pitching prospect Garrett Stallings learned he was headed to the Orioles as part of the trade package for José Iglesias last week, the right-hander wasn’t just changing organizations. He was going home, in a way.

The 23-year-old Stallings was born and raised in Chesapeake, Va., attending his first big league game at Camden Yards, with family, when he was 7 years old. He remembers looking up to Brian Roberts in those days, and Miguel Tejada, too. But he spent many more childhood nights marveling in person at his hometown Norfolk Tides, rooting for the O’s longtime Triple-A affiliate as hard as he did the O’s.

“Growing up around the Tides, people are excited to one day get the opportunity to see me pitch in a big league park. I feel nothing but love and excitement,” Stallings said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “I was very excited when I was informed I was going to Baltimore. I remember being a little kid and not believing how fast those pitchers were throwing. It almost looked like a different game than what I was watching.”

Recalling those memories Tuesday prompted Stallings to call being part of the Orioles now “a dream come true.” As a standout at Chesapeake’s Grassfield High, Stallings pitched at the Tides’ Harbor Park Stadium as a teenager before blossoming into a future fifth-round pick of the Angels out of the University of Tennessee. The opportunity to do so again could come soon, if Stallings climbs the ranks of an Orioles Minor League system that’s worked for years now to stockpile enviable pitching depth.

“I think he’s another great starting pitching prospect to add to what’s becoming a very impressive stack of them in our system, and we’re going to need all of them that we can get,” Orioles GM/executive vice president Mike Elias said. “I don’t know that I would trade our starting pitching in the Minor Leagues right now for anyone else’s, and this makes me feel even stronger that that might be the case.”

Stallings slotted in as the O’s No. 26 prospect per MLB Pipeline immediately after the trade, making him the ninth prospect acquired by the Orioles in 2020 to crack their Top 30 list. Six others were acquired in 2019 -- meaning half of the O’s Top 30 prospects are direct results of the past two lean rebuilding years.

It’s a group headlined by No. 1 Adley Rutschman and rookie slugger Ryan Mountcastle at No. 5, but defined more by its pitching depth. While 2020 saw the debuts of No. 10 Dean Kremer, No. 15 Keegan Akin and unranked Bruce Zimmermann, 2021 figures to feature No. 9 Michael Baumann, No. 11 Zac Lowther and No. 19 Alexander Wells. Stallings’ age and polish might allow him to advance quickly, but he’s seen as part of a further-away prospect wave due to the fact that he has yet to throw a professional pitch.

The Angels did not let Stallings pitch professionally after drafting him in 2019 given his collegiate workload, as is their organizational policy. The cancellation of the 2020 Minor League season then limited Stallings to light work at the Angels’ alternate training site and fall instructional camp, where the Orioles scouted him heavily. The lack of in-game looks did not dissuade the O’s from making Stallings the centerpiece of their return (along with 19-year-old righty Jean Pinto) for Iglesias at the non-tender deadline.

What they got is a strike thrower with four at least average pitches and plus command, seen as a potential future back-end starter at the big league level.

“We made the most of the information made available to us,” Elias said. “In Stallings’ case, it was a little less of a headache than it would’ve been because he had such a long track record in the Southeastern Conference. We knew what he was in 2019, then to see those performances a month ago, and see the velocity and stuff and to see it better than what he showed in college, it was pretty encouraging.”

For Stallings, the new opportunity came with a ticket back east, back home. One of his first texts went to Minor League righty Zach Peek, a former teammate in the Angels organization whom the O’s acquired as part of the package for Dylan Bundy in December ’19. Along with Peek, No. 29 prospect Kyle Bradish and three others, Stallings is one of six blue-chippers the O’s have mined in trades from the Angels system in the last calendar year.

He is the only one, though, with direct Baltimore ties: Stallings said his grandfather was born in Charm City and inspired his Orioles fandom. He now has a chance to pitch for them someday at the highest level.

“I was a little kid one time going to Norfolk, wanting an autograph or asking someone to take a picture, and I know the impact it can make,” Stallings said. “It sounds like good things are happening over here and I am excited to join the team.”