The Orioles found their starting pitcher less than 10 minutes before the trade deadline.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias acquired right-hander Jack Flaherty from the Cardinals in exchange for Triple-A left-hander Drew Rom and infielder César Prieto, and Single-A Delmarva pitcher Zack Showalter.

Flaherty, 27, is a pending free agent who’s 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.550 WHIP in 20 starts, with only 10 home runs surrendered in 109 2/3 innings. He registered a 3.30 ERA in five starts last month.

Elias made it a stated goal to find more pitching to strengthen the club’s bid for a deep run in the playoffs. Starters beyond Kyle Gibson are approaching or have bypassed their career highs in innings.

The decision to option Tyler Wells to Double-A Bowie, where he reported earlier today, increased the urgency.

CHICAGO – The Orioles have played without first baseman Ryan Mountcastle in the lineup since June 8. That was when the Orioles were in Milwaukee. He went on the injured list on June 13, retroactive to June 10, dealing with vertigo.

Mountcastle is here with the team in Chicago, took part in some pregame work yesterday and is doing the same today. On the 10-day IL, he could return as soon as Tuesday, when the Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Orioles don’t yet know if Mountcastle will make it back for that series. But manager Brandon Hyde was encouraged by his pregame fielding and hitting work on Friday at Wrigley Field.

“Yep, he’s going to do that again today,” Hyde said earlier. “We’re kind of just re-evaluating every day and see what we’re going to do. But he’s going to hit again today and move around the field a little bit.

“Really just taking it day-to-day with him right now. He swung the bat extremely well yesterday in batting practice, with a bunch of balls onto Waveland. Hopefully he does that again today and feels good, and we’ll reassess every day.”

The MLB Draft has concluded with the Orioles taking 20 college players and two high school players.

The final count is 11 right-handers, one left-hander, two catchers, four infielders and four outfielders.

“As I mentioned yesterday, we really liked our options as far as the pitching, especially on Day 2 and Day 3 of the draft,” said Orioles director of draft operations Brad Ciolek. “Our scouting and analyst team did a fantastic job did a fantastic job of identifying guys and having unique traits, as far as the arsenal that we’re looking for. Really excited about the crop that we got today and yesterday, and really looking forward to getting them down to Sarasota and working with our player development staff.”

The streak of consecutive college players, following Oklahoma prep shortstop Jackson Holliday at first overall, ended at 11 today with 11^th-round prep pitcher Zachary Showalter.

Twenty-two players were selected over three days, including 10 this afternoon with rounds 11-20. These players can sign for up to $125,000 without counting against the bonus pool.