Above all else, the Orioles’ last few seasons have hammered home the idea that high-level starting pitching and an abundance of major league-caliber arms are the separator, with an outsize influence on how the team performs.

And because we know they’re expensive, both in terms of real-life dollars and prospect value in trades, the most effective way to accumulate them is to develop them yourself.

It’s been a long road toward that for the Orioles, but the progress is apparent and approaching Baltimore, both with recent draftees and the fruits of their burgeoning international program.

The first two years of this series highlighted future rotation pieces and eventual trade chips, and gave early breakdowns of the Orioles’ top young pitching prospects. And we’re back for Year 3, using firsthand observation, data analysis and insights from the pitchers and their coaches, along with opinions from professional scouts who cover the Orioles, to provide as much information as possible about these prospects.

We began this year with Trey Gibson, a strikeout artist who is dominating Double-A and is being promoted to Triple-A, according to a source. Now it’s Boston Bateman, the left-hander who was the Orioles’ prized acquisition at last month’s deadline.

Where did he come from?

The son of former NFL offensive lineman Eric Bateman, Boston Bateman took the baseball route and signed with the Padres for an above-slot $2.5 million as the 52nd overall pick out of Adolfo Camarillo (Calif.) High. (He hasn’t completely abandoned the family sport, though, as he tosses a football as part of his prestart warmup.)

Bateman was having a good full-season debut at Low-A Lake Elsinore prior to last month’s trade to Baltimore, which brought him to the Orioles organization along with five other prospects (infielders Cobb Hightower, Brandon Butterworth and Victor Figueroa, plus right-handers Tyson Neighbors and Tanner Smith). He was watching “Happy Gilmore 2” when he got the call from a San Diego executive that he was being sent to the Orioles.

What do the numbers say?

Bateman is one of just 14 pitchers age 19 or younger with at least 70 innings in affiliated ball this year, speaking to how advanced he is. He has a 4.04 ERA (3.27 FIP, 3.75 xFIP) in 71 1/3 innings, striking out 9.59 batters per nine with a 1.33 WHIP between his two stops. Entering Sunday, that FIP was fourth best among teenage pitchers in full-season ball, as was his strikeout rate, while his swinging strike rate (13.5%) was the second best. He also does well to keep the ball on the ground, with a fair bit of weak contact.

What does he throw?

Bateman came to the Orioles with a four-pitch mix that’s advanced for his age. He moves a fastball that was consistently 94-95 mph in his Delmarva debut on Wednesday around the strike zone, and no hitters squared up the pitch at all that day.

His top secondary pitch is probably a high-80s slider with five inches of vertical break and five inches of horizontal break. He throws it to lefties and righties, and he commands it well. It grades as at least above average and is his preferred breaking ball, though Bateman mixed in a handful of bigger curveballs in the 79-80 mph range last week: a two-plane pitch with around 11 inches of sweep and seven inches of vertical break.

His changeup was considered a work in progress, based on some reports at the time of the trade, but even as the pitch is on the harder side (86-88 mph Wednesday), it proved effective. Bateman had a season-low four swinging strikes in his Delmarva debut, but three came on changeups to righties that he used to get back into counts, demonstrating comfort with the pitch.

Nothing about the overall arsenal stood out as a particularly devastating pitch. Bateman said the slider is the one that’s come the farthest.

“I didn’t know this pitch could be this impactful in my arsenal, so it’s been a huge pitch for me. Just learning what counts to throw it in has been huge,” Bateman said.

Given how the Orioles operate, he’s liable to have a different arsenal as his time here progresses. Because he has a slider and a curveball, they’ll see him as someone who has the aptitude to spin the ball and learn something else like a cutter.

But where you can tell Bateman has already made strides in pro ball is how he uses his pitches and when — a significant part of the Orioles’ development plans.

“I’m trying to refine and improve each and everything I throw, and the main thing for me is knowing what to throw to different hitters in different counts. I’m still learning that,” he said. “I’m just excited to see what else there is.”

What does the future hold?

Delmarva pitching coach Casey Day said there was a buzz in the dugout watching Bateman for the first time last week, one that built around the organization for nearly a week after the July 31 trade that brought him here.

“You see a 6-foot-8 19-year-old go out there, and it’s like, ‘Oh wow, this is pretty impressive,’” Day said. The personable, thoughtful addition to Delmarva’s pitching staff went into what he calls Sasquatch mode — he was announced with that nickname ahead of the game — and showed the type of upside the Orioles farm system hasn’t boasted on the mound in a few years at least. One person inside the club put him as the best pitching prospect they’ve had since Kyle Bradish.

Bateman is a different kind of prospect for the fact that he’s polished for his age and seems to have a sturdy floor as a midrotation starter based on his size, durability and pitch arsenal. Where there’s space to dream is how that changes now that he’s in the Orioles system. He’s going to have his size and raw ability no matter which organization he pitches in, but the Orioles can help him in many ways.

They’ll try to build out his arsenal, I’m sure. High-A, where Bateman will certainly start next year if he doesn’t end this year there, is a level where the Orioles’ pitching apparatus typically will suggest a new pitch or two to develop in the offseason. They’ll likely optimize his pitch mix so he has consistent attack plans, and I bet there’s going to be some delivery work to keep Bateman’s motion repeatable but maybe add a little more velocity or deception.

All that would be nice, but it’s not as if there’s a ton of deficiencies to point out. His draft reports are littered with comments about his good makeup, and that still seems to hold true.

The Orioles are learning that themselves, and they plan to use this last month of the season to build a foundation for whatever they want to do to help Bateman get better.

“Boston is not a guy that needs to change everything,” Day said. “He’s obviously very, very good. There’s some certain things that we’re going to want to critique, and Boston is young, Boston needs to get better, and we want to help Boston be a big leaguer. But right now the worst thing we can do is jump in and start changing stuff. We’re going to let Boston be Boston, develop a relationship with Boston so he wants to hear what we have to say, and after that we’re going to help him be a big leaguer. That’s what it’s all about. We’re obviously looking at a very talented 19-year-old, and that’s pretty exciting and pretty fun.”