There was no clearer sign that Chayce McDermott was turning the page and, in retrospect, perhaps no greater sign that he’s ready for the assignment at hand: pitching in the big leagues.

Having finished last year extremely well for Triple-A Norfolk, McDermott entered 2024 seemingly on the cusp of a major league debut. Then he scuffled through April. In six starts, he walked 23 in 21 1/3 innings and didn’t get out of the first inning in his last start of the month.

The calendar turned to May and, in his next start, McDermott struck out 11 and pitched into the seventh of a combined no-hitter for the Tides.

“When we look back at that time line of what happened the outing before — he didn’t get out of the first against Gwinnet — the conversations we had, the work we put in, the subtle adjustments to his approach and his delivery, to go out there and put it into action and then start a combined no-hitter against Nashville, who is obviously a very good team, I think that one for me just stands out,” Norfolk pitching coach Justin Ramsey said this week. “Whenever he goes up there, or even if it’s with us, if he has a tough outing, he has the mental fortitude to come back, bounce back and make the next one special.”

McDermott will make his major league debut Wednesday at Miami, having rescued his season after that difficult opening. He will become the second high-profile Orioles pitching prospect to debut in the rotation this year, as he and Cade Povich look to prove the organization’s pitching plan is going to deliver enough arms to supplement the homegrown All-Stars in the lineup.

Like Povich, McDermott came to the Orioles at the 2022 trade deadline. He was part of the Orioles’ return for Trey Mancini, who went on to win a World Series with the Houston Astros, and solidified himself as one of the organization’s top pitching prospects in 2023. He had the second-lowest batting average against of any starter in affiliated baseball last year (.165), while striking out 11.5 batters per nine, and was a rare pitcher within the organization to see his results improve when getting to Triple-A.

Despite that challenging spell this season — which Ramsey attributed to a cycle of putting pressure on himself with the majors so close then getting frustrated at the poor results — he’s been having similar success for the Tides.

McDermott has a 3.96 ERA with a 1.43 WHIP and 12.8 strikeouts per nine ahead of his debut.

“If anything, you could make an argument that he’s flashing some better stuff,” Ramsey said. “He’s got a better feel for the split — which was something he had made an adjustment in the offseason the year prior, so last year was the first year throwing it — and then just kind of getting a better feel for the fastball shape. It’s back to what it was with the minor league baseball, in Double-A, so you can make an argument he’s showing better at times.”

According to MLB Statcast data, McDermott has leaned heavily on that four-seamer, which this year has a better average spin rate and carry than it did when he arrived in Norfolk in 2023. (Triple-A uses the MLB baseball, which is different from the rest of the minors and has the potential to impact pitch shapes and command as pitchers adjust.)

The whiff rate on McDermott’s fastball is up from 29.7% to 30.7%. All of his other pitches have spiked, too. He’s made the largest jump on his curveball (42.9% whiff rate compared to 27.1% last year), with meaningful jumps on his splitter (32% to 39.5%) and cutter (37.3% to 41.9%).

Ramsey has also noticed that, in the outings when McDermott is locked in with his best stuff and delivery, his velocity improves as the game progresses. He’s had several such examples lately, pitching into the sixth inning in six of his last eight outings (one of which was a planned short outing and another of which he recorded one out and didn’t have his command).

The Orioles have had pitchers with high-level stuff climb to the majors before and, almost to a man, they’ve had an adjustment period once they got to the big leagues. There’s been plenty of work at Triple-A to prepare McDermott for this moment, with director of pitching Chris Holt involved this year in guiding pitchers through that transition as an additional voice, given his experience as major league pitching coach until this year.

“It’s such a hard, hard thing to do, to pitch up at that level, so I think when Chayce goes up there, he’s a guy that has the stuff to, once he gets settled in and comfortable and understands what it is, to truly thrive in that role,” Ramsey said. “It might take a start; it might not. He might go up there when his name is called and absolutely dominate, but he definitely has the stuff to do it. It’s just a matter of, with any of the young guys, settling in, getting comfortable and adjusting to the league as they adjust to you.”